Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, gave her first public speech as a member of the royal family on Monday. The three-minute address, which she wrote herself, was made in Ipswitch at the opening of The Treehouse, a hospice facility for children. The program is operated by East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, of which the Duchess is a patron.

She was clearly nervous as she spoke to hospice employees, checking her notes after nearly every sentence. Poised and well-spoken nonetheless, she congratulated the staff and reflected on what she has learned about children’s hospice care.

“When I first visited the hospice in Milton, I had a pre-conceived idea as to what to expect. Far from being a clinical, depressing place for sick children, it was a home. Most importantly, it was a family home, a happy place of stability, support and care. It was a place of fun.

What you have all achieved here is extraordinary. You as a community have built the Treehouse; a group of people who have made every effort to support and help each other.

What you do is inspirational, it is a shining example of the support and the care that is delivered, not just here, but in the children’s hospice movement at large, up and down the country.”

The Duchess wore a blue dress by Reiss, borrowed from her mother Carole Middleton, for the occasion.

Video Source: HuffPostUK

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Don’t worry, ladies, it’s just makeup!

Pop star Justin Bieber helps Marc Ecko‘s Complex celebrate its birthday this month.  He’s beat up and bloodied – artistically, of course – on the cover of the men’s magazine’s 10th anniversary issue.   In a feature titled, “Second Round KO,” The Biebs is styled as a playboy getting a serious beat down in the boxing ring.

Not so much in real life, though.  His interview with editor Joe LaPuma makes it very clear that while there’s a price to pay for celebrity, it’s #1 or bust for Bieber, and he’s not pulling punches.    Read on for highlights, the flip side cover image and a behind the scenes video from the photoshoot.

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Russell Brand is sick of the paparazzi and he wanted to make sure the unsuspecting office windows of New Orleans know it.  The actor, who is in New Orleans filming a movie, got himself in a bit of trouble this week when he decided a photographer went just a little too far.

On Monday, Brand evidently snatched an iPhone from a paparazzo, who was taking his picture, and threw it through the window of a local law firm.  The photographer filed charges for criminal damages amounting to $700, and a warrant was issued for Brand’s arrest.

Ever the responsible citizen, Brand turned himself in to the New Orleans Police on Thursday.  He was booked and released shortly thereafter.  He also paid $240 to the law firm whose window he smashed.   Presumably he can afford to replace the guy’s iPhone, too, so why the charges?   Is the pap just trying to make a point because he can?

Photo Source:  WWLTV.com

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Speculation about Olivier Martinez and Halle Berry‘s engagement have been swirling for weeks now, but  those are rumors no more.  Martinez confirmed the couple’s happy news at the opening of his swank new Miami restaurant Villa Azur.   He put is simply:

“Yes, of course it’s true.”

What is evidently not true is the claim by jeweler Gurhan that they were responsible for Berry’s stunning emerald engagement ring.   Martinez cleared that right up:

“There’s a jeweler taking credit for doing the ring and it’s a lie! They have nothing to do with this.”

The actual designer, he says, is Paris designer Robert Mazlo.

Official congratulations to the couple!

[ Images by FayesVision/WENN.com ]

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Zac Efron and the cast of The Lorax are hoofing it all over Europe on the movie’s promotional tour.  They began in Madrid, and on Friday hit Rome for a photocall at Casa del Cinema.

Prior to their appearance, Efron sampled the local cuisine with his co-star Danny DeVito and DeVito’s wife Rhea Perlman.

Click through for more views.

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Mad Men is about to begin its much-anticipated fifth season of chronicling life at the fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.  With the season premiere airing soon (March 25th), AMC has released a slew of promotional photos to get you ready.

Everyone you want to see is pictured:  Christina Hendricks (Joan Harris), January Jones (Betty Draper), Jon Hamm (Don Draper), Elizabeth Moss (Peggy Olson), John M. Slattery, Jr. (Roger Sterling), Jared Harris (Lane Pryce),  and Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell).  They all  look perfectly 1960s fabulous.

Check them all out after the jump.

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 Jessica Simpson isn’t the only girl on the cover of April 2012 Elle.  A sophisticated and elegant Heidi Klum appears on an alternate cover for this month’s issue.   Alongside photos by Thomas Whiteside, Klum talks about her kids, her early style (“It was horrible,” she says) and opens up about her recent split from husband Seal.

Admitting that celebrity life feels like being “in the eye of the tornado,”  she shares:

“I don’t want to talk positively or negatively about the ups and downs that we had. Every couple goes through things. Unfortunately, we’re in the public, so the highs are out there. But I don’t think it’s necessary—especially for our children—to have the lows being printed in magazines and talked about.”

See more pretty photos from the issue after the jump.

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Turns out third time was not a charm for Dennis Quaid:  his wife Kimberly Buffington-Quaid has filed for divorce after eight years of marriage.

Why?  It seems they just don’t get along.  Kimberly’s petition gave this reason as the Grounds For Divorce:

“The marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities between [Kimberly] and [Dennis] that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.”

The couple will share custody of their twins, Thomas and Zoe, who are four years old.    Kimberly, a former real estate agent, has requested spousal support.

Dennis was previously married to actress P.J. Soles from 1978 to 1983.  He and Meg Ryan were married from 1991 to 2001; they have one son together, Jack Henry.

[ Images by Nikki Nelson/WENN.com ]

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Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks goes for total drama in the current issue of V Magazine.  For Issue 76 – The Sports Issue, Hendricks is styled as a quasi-steampunk archer.  Who knew a crossbow could be such a sexy accessory?  There’s also a shot of her as a card-flipping gambler, one presumes just for good measure.

In her interview, she dishes about working with director Nicolas Winding Refn in Drive and the wardrobe foibles that go along with starring in a show set in the 1960s.  (One word:  ouch!)

More photos after the jump.

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The cause of Whitney Houston‘s death last month is still under investigation, but insiders are certain that it was entirely accidental.

A source close to the singer’s family said:

”She had no marks on her body whatsoever to indicate a struggle, and she was the furthest thing from trying to kill herself.”

An official ruling of the cause of Houston’s death cannot be made until the results of toxicology tests come back.

[ Images by WENN.com ]

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