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Anticipation is building for the Duchess of Cambridge's first public speech, scheduled for Monday at a hospice the duchess recently became a patron of.

It's been an eventful weekend for Kate Middleton. While she was handing out shamrocks to members of the Irish Guards on St. Patrick's Day, one guard passed out. Prince William, who is on a six-week tour of duty with the RAF in the Falkland Islands, was not present, making the event Middleton's first solo military appearance.

Middleton is scheduled to visit The Treehouse, a children's hospice facility run by one of the charities of which she is a patron, East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH). She will meet children and their families who receive care and support from the hospice before giving a speech.

After speaking, the duchess will plant a tree on the grounds of the facility.

Middleton accepted the position of Royal Patron of EACH in January after visiting a hospice in Milton last fall.

The exact subject of the speech has not been made public, but one royal reporter said it will be brief and beautifully written.

"Everyone is silent listening to every single word that you are saying; it will be very nerve wracking for her," said Victoria Murphy, the royal reporter for The Mirror.

Princess Diana spoke in public for the first time in 1981, giving a a simple thank you to her Welsh subjects in their native tongue.

But official addresses can be daunting, as it was for stuttering George VI, whose struggles were dramatized in the film "The King's Speech."

"I am sure it will go very well, like everything she's done, shows herself to be more than capable," Murphy said.

The duchess has been reportedly practicing in front of family, friends and a mirror.