Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, is making discreet visits to several charities to decide which ones she wants to support, according to t James’s Palace.

Since their April 29 wedding and tour of Canada and California, Kate and her husband Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, have kept a low profile.

Prince William, second in line to the throne, has been knuckling down to work as a search and rescue helicopter pilot in northeast Wales.

Meanwhile, Catherine has begun paying personal visits to organisations in recent days and plans to familiarise herself with a variety of good causes before choosing next year which ones to back.

“The duchess is using the next few months to get to know a number of charitable and other causes better, so she can make well-informed decisions about her future role,” said a St James’s Palace spokesman.

“The duchess plans to meet a wide range of people and make private visits.

“We are not giving a running commentary of the causes the duchess is looking at. Her interests remain broad at the moment.”

Prince William, a Royal Air Force flight lieutenant based on the island of Anglesey, needs to put in plenty of hours over the coming months in order to become a captain.

A spokesman said the couple, both aged 29, want to avoid overshadowing Queen Elizabeth II in the run-up to 2012, the 85-year-old monarch’s diamond jubilee year.