KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (CBS) -- Prince William and his wife are on stop number two of their Asian tour. Much of the attention was on Kate, for a different reason than usual.
Whether it's talk about her wardrobe, talk of pregnancy rumors, or the talk of how she's handling the royal spotlight, there's no shortage of talk about the duchess of Cambridge. But we've hardly heard Kate talk much at all.
Today the duchess selected this hospice in Malaysia to give her first overseas speech. She says, "This is a very special place and so much is already being achieved. It has been wonderful meeting the patients, families and all the staff here."
Her roughly two-minute address, narrowly focused on her charitable works, was heavy on pleasantries and at times almost timid. She showed she's still finding her footing as a public speaker representing queen and country. She says, "Providing children and their families with a place of support, care and enhancement at a time of great need is simply life changing."
For Kate, whose life has changed from rural commoner to royal duchess and international diplomat, life at the lectern is relatively new. In November 2011, barely six months after they were married, an ambush by a reporter who asked about famine in Africa left her flustered. She said, "It's been going on for a hundred days or so. It's really still ongoing and a huge amount still has to happen... with hundreds of children still malnourished at the moment."
A few months later, at her first solo public event at the National Portrait Gallery in London, she did not speak publicly at all but public interest only intensified.
In March, she gave her first public speech which was also at a children's hospice and less than three minutes in length. She said then, "I'm only sorry that William can't be here today. He would love it here."
Today's speech overshadowed much of the rest of the day for the royal couple who started the morning at a war memorial for British soldiers in Singapore.
Then, it was on to Malaysia for lunch with the prime minister and a tour of the hospice before her big speech.