Kate Middleton meets drug and alcohol addicts during charity visit

London: Kate Middleton made a secret trip to meet recovering alcoholics and drug addicts beginning a hectic programme of visits to her new charities. The Duchess of Cambridge began with a visit to a clinic run by Action on Addiction, one of her charities recently.

It was her first private visit to get to know one of her four new charities since her patronages were announced at the start of last month. Middleton will be doing at least half a dozen public royal engagements on her own for the first time while Prince William is away serving as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot in the Falklands over the next six weeks. She met staff at Clouds House in East Knoyle, Salisbury, Wilts., where addicts go through detox before starting a 12-step programme involving intensive counselling. “She found it very informative. It was a really good visit. The Duchess is getting to know more about what the charities do and meeting the staff and those they help,” a leading daily has quoted St James’s Palace spokesman as saying. “This will be a busy period for her now. She is really going to throw ­herself into it,” he added. ANI