Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge arrive in New York for the start of whirlwind US mini-tour

 
Whirlwind tour: Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at the Carlyle Hotel (Picture: Getty)
Robert Jobson8 December 2014

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in New York for the start of their whirlwind US mini-tour.

The royal couple took the Big Apple by storm with 75 cameras and TV crews greeting them as they arrived at the five-star Carlyle Hotel, where a suite costs £9,000 a night.

The Duke and Duchess, travelling without Prince George, will carry out 10 engagements during the two-day tour. The highlights include a meeting between Prince William and President Obama at the White House, an NBA basketball match and a rumoured audience with Jay Z and Beyoncé.

British Embassy officials said the level of interest in the couple — who are travelling with an entourage of seven, including a hairdresser, as well as their protection team — is “absolutely phenomenal”.

The Duchess, who is five months pregnant, will carry out two solo engagements in New York later today while Prince William will travel to Washington DC alone. She will visit underprivileged children in Harlem, just as Princess Diana did in 1989.

The couple will then attend a conservation reception together at the British Consul General’s residence before watching the NBA basketball match.

Tomorrow they will visit the September 11 Memorial Museum, before touring a youth organisation and attending a reception to boost British tourism.

The first engagement of the hotly anticipated royal visit was a private reception at which around 15 couples, each paying $50,000 (£32,000), mingled with the Duke and Duchess to raise cash on behalf of American Friends of the Royal Foundation.

The Duchess wore a lacy black knee-length dress to the event, hosted by British advertising mogul Sir Martin Sorrell and his wife Cristiana at their apartment in mid-town Manhattan.

Sir Martin, whose WPP Group is one of the world’s biggest marketing companies, earned £30 million last year.

In Washington, the Prince will be hosted by President Obama while the Duchess remains in New York.

He is determined to use the American tour to promote wildlife conservation and, after his visit to the White House, will make a keynote speech on the illegal wildlife trade at the World Bank.

The Prince is expected to call the illegal wildlife trade “one of the most insidious forms of corruption and criminality in the world today”. In his speech, he will say: “Some endangered species are now literally worth more than their weight in gold.”

The Prince, who will travel to China next year on an official visit, risked sparking a row as he was today set to say that the wholesale price of ivory in China has increased from $5 to $2,100 (£1,350) per kilogram in 25 years — and that this is reflected in increases in poaching.

He will say: “Wildlife crime goes to the heart of our security. It recognises neither national borders nor national interests. It distorts economic development, undermines the rule of law and exacerbates sources of conflict.”

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