by Julia Zappei

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13, 2012 (AFP) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine arrived Thursday in Malaysia where she will make her first speech on foreign soil as the royal couple pressed on with an Asia-Pacific tour.

William and Catherine flew in from neighbouring Singapore, where they kicked off the trip, and were to have lunch with premier Najib Razak ahead of a visit to a Kuala Lumpur children's hospice where Catherine will give her speech.

The hospice appearance is among the most anticipated events of the nine-day trip -- which will also take in the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu -- as the former Kate Middleton settles into her public duties with the British monarchy.

In the evening, they will enjoy a royal welcome at a dinner hosted by Malaysia's 84-year-old king, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, and will wrap up the visit Saturday with a stop at a nature conservation centre in the Borneo jungle.

Britain's younger royals are touring the globe throughout 2012 as part of celebrations marking the 60-year reign of William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, as they seek to maintain their relevance in a changing world.

Their wedding in April 2011 was watched by up to two billion TV viewers around the world, sparking fresh excitement in Britain's monarchy after years of crisis.

During their three-day stay in Singapore, William revealed Wednesday that he wanted to have two children with Catherine, according to British media accompanying them.

"Someone asked him how many children he would like to have, and he said he was thinking about having two," Corine Ackerman, 17, a student at the Tanglin Trust School in Singapore, was quoted as saying.

They were William's first comments on how large a family he wanted, according to the UK-based Press Association.

They also bantered playfully with the public during a meet-and-greet session in which a child asked them what superpowers they would most like to have.

When William answered with "invisibility", Kate quipped: "I'd pick invisibility too so that William can't sneak up on me," local the daily Straits Times reported.

The tour includes events that reflect William and Catherine's personal interest, an aide said, including nature conservation.

The couple will wind up their Malaysian stay Saturday in the state of Sabah on Borneo, where they will meet with researchers and learn of conservation efforts in the remote Danum Valley, home to orangutans and other endangered wildlife.

While in Singapore, the royal couple's three-day visit included a ceremony earlier Thursday to pay tribute to British and Commonwealth World War II dead.

On Wednesday, they unveiled the first plane engine to be produced by Rolls-Royce at its new factory in Singapore.