Royal Wedding: Kate Middleton's First Walkabout

LONDON, Feb. 24, 2011— -- Prince William and Kate Middleton will be out and about meeting members of the public in Anglesey, North Wales, today.

This is only the second time Middleton will have been heard speaking in public.

The last time was when the princess-to-be and Prince William announced their engagement in November.

The royal couple will today meet members of the public and Middleton will learn to launch her first boat.

The outing is being seen as an opportunity for her to learn the ropes from William, who is experienced in such matters.

It's Day 1 of Kate's royal life.

"It is a big day," royal author Katie Nicholl said. "She's going to be incredibly nervous today."

Duncan Larcombe, ABC News' royal contributor and royal editor at the Sun newspaper, said, "Not a lot, touch wood, can go wrong. There is tremendous pressure on Kate today."

But why Anglesey for her debut? It's a rainy, remote island famed for castles, choirs and sheep.

Well, because this is where the royal couple live, and where William serves as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.

"William's been on duty this week," Larcombe told ABC News. "And on Monday the call came in to rescue a woman who had fallen off the cliff.

"He was involved in winching down paramedics to try and save her and winching her up. She was pronounced dead when they flew her to hospital," Larcombe said. "So a pretty harrowing incident for William."

The prince works alongside the volunteers who staff the lifeboat he's about to name.

"It's fantastic having a prince on our doorstep," volunteer lifeboatman Andy Bell said.

William decided to pay the lifeboatmen a visit after receiving a letter.

"Out of the blue we had a phone call," Heather Abbott of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution said. "Prince William and Miss Middleton had accepted the invitation to come along and name the new life boat. So it was very exciting."

Life in a Secluded Farmhouse

Kate and William spend quite some time in their secluded farmhouse in Anglesey.

"Every time I come to Anglesey, I think it's more and more bizarre that they've chosen to live here," Larcombe said. "This is really the middle of nowhere and it does say a lot about William and Kate's intentions as a newly married couple. They don't want to be public."

But, as author Nicholl told ABC News, the Anglesey people are "incredibly protective" of the royal couple.

"It's a tiny, tiny part of Wales, a wind-swept island" Nicholl said. "Not much happens there. The people have really taken William and Kate as their own."

They will be based in "the middle of nowhere" for another two years, the first two years of their married life: shopping in the local store, walking along the windy beaches, enjoying cozy drinks in local pubs.

"They have peace and quiet," Abbott of the Lifeboat Institution said. "I think that's what they like about living here."

Nicholl compared it to St. Andrews. "They're both places that are almost bubbles where they felt safe," she said. "They felt protected, they can be themselves, not spied on."

The royal couple will continue their public outings Friday with a trip to St. Andrews, Scotland, where they met as students.

"It's the 600th Anniversary. This is an old university. William has rather appropriately been chosen as the patron of the 600th appeal, so they're both going up there together," Nicholl told ABC News.

"Apparently they're so excited to be going back and to walk around the quad where they met."