Kate Middleton made her first official speech as the Duchess of Cambridge on Monday (March 19, 2012) and did so in the same dress that her mother wore to Royal Ascot in 2010. Middleton looked radiant in the deep blue Reiss dress paired with wide black belt - a royal aide said she had purchased the gown some time ago, reports the UK's Daily Mirror.
The Duchess was in Ipswich to open East Anglian Children's Hospice 'The Treehouse', and delivered her maiden speech slowly and carefully, sticking precisely to her script without any ad-libs. She opened by saying, "You have all made me feel so welcome and I feel hugely honoured to be here to see this wonderful centre.I am only sorry that William can't be here today; he would love it here. A view of his - that I share - is that through teamwork, so much can be achieved. What you have all achieved here is extraordinary". It's not the first time that Kate has looked to her mother for fashion influence - she wore a white hat to the wedding of Hugh Van Cutsem which her mother had previously worn at Ascot, and donned a red lace dress to the wedding of friends Harriet Colthurst, which mother Carol had worn at a Royal Academy summer preview. Later in her speech, Middleton described the Treehouse as "a lifeline" for children and their families, telling staff they were "inspirational" and a "shining example" of the children's hospice movement.