Duchess Of Cambridge - Duchess Catherine attends sports awards

Duchess Catherine attends sports awards

The Duchess of Cambridge has attended her first public engagement since announcing her pregnancy.

The glowing royal - who is 12 weeks pregnant and has been battling severe morning sickness for the past two weeks, which forced her to seek treatment in hospital and cancel a number of planned appearances - stepped out to attend the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Awards in London this evening (16.12.12).

Wearing a green dress, the 30-year-old beauty helped David Beckham present the Lifetime Achievement award to London 2012 chairman Lord Seb Coe, as well as the evening's top accolade the Sports Personality of the Year award to cyclist Bradley Wiggins, who took the title ahead of track and field athlete Jessica Ennis and tennis star Andy Murray.

The prestigious event marked the Duchess Catherine's first official engagement since her release from King Edward VII's Hospital on December 6.

In a statement issued just hours before she attended the ceremony in South London, a St. James's Palace spokesman said: ''The Duchess of Cambridge will tonight attend the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Awards at the ExCeL London, where Her Royal Highness will present the Lifetime Achievement and the main Sports Personality of the Year Awards. The Duchess will attend the event in response to a longstanding invitation from the BBC.''

According to the MailOnline, the Duchess - who was known as Kate Middleton before marrying - attended the event for less than 45 minutes without her husband Prince William, who is back at work as an RAF search and rescue pilot in Anglesey and was spotted chatting to Jessica Ennis briefly at the event.