The Duchess of Cambridge as Royal Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices

[EIIR]

She's obviously doing what everyone does when speaking formally - she's using her 'telephone' voice. The formal, proper way of speaking. I remember reading somewhere that her family had teased her after she spoke to the cameras in Copenhagen that she was using her telephone voice.

The thing to remember with the accent - William and Harry downplay their poshness when speaking. They try to sound like everyone else. David Cameron, who also went to Eton, does this too. They don't want to alienate people by sounding too upper class. With Kate, she's gone to the poshest girls school in the country and, having previously been a private citizen wouldn't have had any need to play down her poshness. So that's why she sounds more posh than William.

 

[American Dane]

I think too she did really really well. and she wrote her speech herself ! I like that she choose not the speeck to be written by somebody else and I really like what she said. very personal and warm. A little slow but it's her first so she just need a litlle practice. and unlike william when he began to talk a few speech, I absolutly understood everything she said.

Does it say that somewhere in an article, or did a commentator or Catherine herself say that? Congratulations to the Duchess of Cambridge on completing her first public speech

 

[cepe]

The Duchess looked very elegant and really does suit that colour - let's call it "Ipswich Blue" as previous posts have mentioned that its the Ipswich Team colour.

I thought the delivery and content of the speech was really good. No real hesitation and not an "um" to be heard. Excellent that she wrote it herself too. As for her accent - that sounded ok to me. I think women always sound "posher" because of the timbre of the voice - but she doesn't sound squeaky which is a really good thing.

 

[EIIR]

Does it say that somewhere in an article, or did a commentator or Catherine herself say that? Congratulations to the Duchess of Cambridge on completing her first public speech

Paul Harrison, Sky's royal correspondent, says he understands that Kate wrote the whole thing herself, amending and tweaking it over several weeks. It'll have been signed off by officials to ensure that it doesn't include any political overtones or anything like that. But the words are her own.

 

[candi8305]

Duchess of Cambridge's first speech. Lovely

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17433493

Kate's first speech: 'I only wish William was here' - ITV News

 

[American Dane]

Paul Harrison, Sky's royal correspondent, says he understands that Kate wrote the whole thing herself, amending and tweaking it over several weeks. It'll have been signed off by officials to ensure that it doesn't include any political overtones or anything like that. But the words are her own.

Got it, thanks for answering Hopefully this will be a trademark of hers, since most public persons have a speechwriter, and I'd prefer for her to continue writing herself

 

[cepe]

Candi8305 - thank you for posting the speech. I just love the smile when she mentions William. It is interesting about the emphasis on family and home particularly this quote:

"Most importantly, it was a family home, a happy place of stability, support and care. It was a place of fun."

I think this is what the Middleton family achieve for themselves and William enjoys so much.

 

[sm1939]

I think she did really well !! loved what she said and how she looked !

 

[Daisiesforever]

I agree. Kate was absolutely lovely.

 

[Andrew_Goodchild]

Just watched it and I thought she was fantastic. The Town se.ems to be buzzing at the moment. I don't think any royal would have caused this effect in the town at the moment other than Her Majesty or Prince William.

Hopefully the first or many visits that Catherine will make here

 

[Sonjapearl]

I thought she did very well. I thought she glanced down too much at first, but hey its her first speech. She did fine.

 

[blauerengel]

She delivered a good speech and spoke eloquently and unhurried.I like the fact that she wrote the speech herself,it gives a personal touch and makes it more lively.

 

[NGalitzine]

On Sky News they've called that a 'flawless' delivery. Very careful, she's obviously spent a lot of time practicing. I think she did really well.

One thing though. Kate's accent is posher than William's.

I don't think she sounded especially "posh", whatever that is supposed to mean, but I do think she spoke very clearly and carefully which cannot always be said of her husband who speaks more "estuary" and is not always easily understood.

 

[Baroness of Books]

I thought Kate did very well, too; kudos to her on her first speech and for writing it herself. Yes, she spoke slowly and looked down at her notes quite a bit, but this is her first one and as she becomes accustomed to more public speaking, her delivery will be more natural and she'll rely less on notes. I like that she didn't rush through it and her voice didn't wobble, and hardly showed any nerves (although she probably had a bundle of them). As far as a posh accent, I didn't notice anything abnormally uppercrust in her delivery, but she was probably very aware of how she sounded and enunciated carefully, therefore emphasizing her accent and formality of tone. I understood every word she said, I thought the content was from her heart, and I liked her smile and upward glance when she mentioned William.

It was also a nice nod to the town by wearing the Ipswich blue dress.

 

[texankitcat]

I thought she did very well for her first public speech. She a bit dry mouthed, which is perfectly natural with the nerves she must have been feeling, however she did a fabulous job for her very first public speech. I can't imagine how relieved she must feel to have that out of the way.

 

[Nice Nofret]

the first speeches are always nerveswrecking - especially with microphone, as it sounds so wired to hear yourself speak - one could see, that she was nervous, and that she had trained a lot, but nevertheless the speech worked well and one could only wish everyone such a good delivery in his/hers first public address.

 

[Marika86]

The Duchess of Cambridge's first public address is a success - hellomagazine.com

Kate Middleton: Watch the Duchess of Cambridge's first public speech on HELLO! Online - hellomagazine.com

 

[Lumutqueen]

She looked good, her speech was well written, she looked very nervous and the constant pauses and looking down at the lecturn was an annoyance for me personally. She's doing good though.

 

[Patra]

I liked the pace of her speech, and thought it was very well written.....so considering the pressure, I would vote her first speech a success too.

 

[KittyAtlanta]

She did very well. All the Royal Family give speeches that way...jerky and always having to look down, so no points off for style. I was surprised how short the speech was; 2:32 mins or something like that.

She has a great voice.

 

[Al_bina]

Kate Middleton Speech Is Duchess' First Public Talk As Royal (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Catherine's, Duchess of Cambridge, English appears to be unnatural and trying hard to sound posh. It is all right, everything will improve with practice.

Spletnik -Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visited The Treehouse hospice.

Her posture leaves much to be desired.

 

[Sunnystar]

She did... Meh. I can't say I was terribly impressed. The speech was short and her delivery made me uncomfortable. The nervousness was radiating off her. I love Kate but I have seen so many kids half Kate's age delivery better, more confident speeches, that they've also written themselves, and none of them is as well-educated as Kate nor have they had anywhere close to the the same opportunities as Kate. And I'm not even talking about kids who have participated in speech & debate clubs but just regular every day kids.

 

[lancchick]

For those members who thought Kate looked down too much, there's two very obvious reasons for this. One, no teleprompter and two, the speech was not memorized. You can debate whether or not she should have memorized it; it was a very short speech. But saying you're bothered by how much she looked down is like saying you're bothered that she breathed, it's kind of a necessity!

 

[American Dane]

For those members who thought Kate looked down too much, there's two very obvious reasons for this. One, no teleprompter and two, the speech was not memorized. You can debate whether or not she should have memorized it; it was a very short speech. But saying you're bothered by how much she looked down is like saying you're bothered that she breathed, it's kind of a necessity!

JMO but I rather have her give a speech the way she did, with quite a bit of looking down, than needing a teleprompter. The looking down will lessen with time, and yes it was a bit distracting, but it's better than requiring a big piece of metal for a 2 1/2 minute speech at a children's hospice.

 

[4Pam]

Well that was her first speech as an HRH the Duchess of Cambridge not as a regular person. She did fine. She'll get better over time.

 

[EIIR]

She did... Meh. I can't say I was terribly impressed. The speech was short and her delivery made me uncomfortable. The nervousness was radiating off her. I love Kate but I have seen so many kids half Kate's age delivery better, more confident speeches, that they've also written themselves, and none of them is as well-educated as Kate nor have they had anywhere close to the the same opportunities as Kate. And I'm not even talking about kids who have participated in speech & debate clubs but just regular every day kids.

How many of those kids had their speeches carried live on several news channels and websites to millions of people around the world? How many of them will have had their performance scrutinised and analysed by newspapers and blogs all over the planet? Not many I dare say.

 

[Daria_S]

I thought Catherine did a fabulous job. Her speech was sincere in content and delivery. I love that she added a personal touch when mentioning her husband and saying that he would have loved it here and that they share the same views regarding team-work and such.

Here are some clips; the speech from BBC and an overview of the visit from 'The Telegraph.

BBC News - Duchess of Cambridge makes first public speech
Video: Duchess of Cambridge paints and plays music with hospice children - Telegraph

I have said this millions of times on these forums, but I will repeat myself yet again; I love, love, LOVE watching her interact with children. There's no awkwardness there at all. They flock to her, it would seem. She was so involved when paining with the little girl, and then participated in a music class. Her strength is definitely her ability to be at ease with the public, but espcially little ones. She's not afraid to get down, be hands-on and maybe even get a little dirty . Big 'kudos' to her for being her lovely self and showing us that she's not afraid to give love.

 

[christinacg]

I thought her speech was very awkward and unnatural to the point that I couldn't finish watching it, but since it was her first she gets a pass. I'm sure she'll get better with time.

 

[HRHHermione]

I think she did a very nice job for her first speech. Her delivery will improve with time, but it's fairly obvious she's taken some speech lessons and she's paying attention.

I'm glad for her sake that it's over- she'll never have to give another first speech again.

 

[Daria_S]

I think she did a very nice job for her first speech. Her delivery will improve with time, but it's fairly obvious she's taken some speech lessons and she's paying attention.

I'm glad for her sake that it's over- she'll never have to give another first speech again.

That's very true. She'll improve with time and more chances to speak publicly. I do think she did well though. I know that when I have to speak in front of an audience, I stutter and use fillers such as 'um' way more than necessary and appropriate for that matter.