It’s not every day that New York city plays host to royalty, so this week’s visit from the UK’s Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is causing a bit of a stir, to say the least. It’s the first time in the Big Apple for both members of the royal couple, who are launching United for Wildlife, a new African conservation charity.
Although the schedule for the three-day trip is expectedly jam-packed, Kate and Wills have made some time for art on their agenda. Tuesday, they will take a tour of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and the trip will culminate with a gala dinner held Tuesday evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the 600th anniversary appeal for St. Andrew’s University, where Kate and William met as students.
During the trip, the fashion choices of Kate, who is five-months pregnant, will be heavily scrutinized—expect only the most glamorous maternity-wear for the 32-year old. Just last week, a quintet of designer gowns worn by her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, fetched close to half a million dollars at LA’s Julien’s Auctions.
The royal contingent (a seven-person team which includes Kate’s hairdresser) arrived late Sunday afternoon, and is staying at the Carlyle Hotel, known for its beautifully appointed lobby bar, filled with murals from Madeline-creator Ludwig Bemelmans (see “New-York Historical Society Fêtes Ludwig Bemelmans’s Plucky French Heroine“). From this spot near Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile, the same hotel where Princess Diana stayed during her first visit to New York, Kate and William will have easy access to some of the city’s finest art museums, should their busy agenda leave them any free time.
Deviation from the planned itinerary, however, seems unlikely. Today, for example, William is taking a day trip to Washington, D.C., to meet President Obama and attend the International Corruption Hunters Alliance conference, while Kate hangs with New York first lady Chirlane McCray. This evening, the couple will reunite for a Brooklyn Nets game with court-side seats alongside Jay Z and Beyoncé. We await the selfies that come out of that historic meeting.
For more Royal coverage, see Prince William and Kate Party at the Met, and How Will Artists React to Second Royal Baby?