Princess Kate and Prince William Take on Boston for Their First US Trip in Eight Years
On Wednesday, Prince William and Kate Middleton arrived in Boston for their first trip to America in eight years. The duo will spend just three days in the city, ending their trip with the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards, a star-studded event to be held on Friday that will award environmental innovators working against climate change.
Ahead of the awards, though, the Prince and Princess of Wales have been getting the full US experience. They landed at Logan Airport after flying commercial across the pond (no word on if they have Global Entry or if they got stuck in those awful customs lines). Of course, they had to dress up for the “walking off the plane” photo opp, and Kate stuck with the monochrome theme she’s been very into lately. The Princess wore a navy suit with a fitted blazer and a similarly hued turtleneck on top. Navy suede pumps completed the one-color look and kept the ensemble very chic. William, meanwhile, also wore a navy suit, along with a white shirt and blue and white polka-dotted tie.
They then headed to city hall where they met Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to discuss the Earshot Prize ceremony. Ahead of the event, various landmarks throughout the city will light up green. Fittingly, for that appearance, Kate wore a green wool coat atop a navy, green, and red plaid dress, finishing off the look with green suede pumps and a green Mulberry bag.
But you can’t head to Boston without stopping by a Celtics game, and on Wednesday night, the couple headed to TD Garden to take in a game against the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, the fans weren’t too pleased to see the royals and reportedly chanted “USA” when they appeared on the jumbotron.
Still, they remained in good spirits and enjoyed the game from their floor seats. They got a chance to meet the players, some fans, and someone even passed William a ball at one point. The Prince dressed casually for the occasion (as casual as a Prince can get, at least), wearing a denim button down underneath his navy suit. Kate, meanwhile, wore her favorite blue tweed double-breasted jacket from Chanel’s fall 1995 collection.
On Thursday, the pair will continue their appearances around the city as they learn more about local eco-focused organizations. Kate is also set to make a solo trip to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University on Friday while William heads to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Then, on Friday night, they will dress up for the Earthshot Prize Awards at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway where environmental innovators will be awarded £1 million to help support their continued work. Billie Eilish and her brother are set to perform at the event, as are Annie Lennox, Ellie Goulding, and Chloe x Halle.
Following their arrival in Boston, William released a statement about the trip and honoring his late grandmother.
“Catherine and I are delighted to be back in the United States and are extremely grateful to Governor Baker and The First Lady of Massachusetts for their warm welcome into Boston,” he said. “On this, our first overseas visit since the death of my grandmother, I would like to thank the people of Massachusetts and particularly of Boston for their many tributes paid to the late Queen. She remembered her 1976 bicentennial visit with great fondness. My grandmother was one of life's optimists. And so am I. That is why last year we launched the Earthshot Prize with the ambition to create a truly global platform to inspire hope and urgent optimism as we look to save the future of our planet.” He continued, saying, “To the people of Boston, thank you. I'm so grateful to you for allowing us to host the second year of the Earthshot prize in your great city. Catherine and I can't wait to meet many of you in the days ahead.”
The trip to Boston marks the couples first to the US since 2014 when they visited New York City. Before that, they visited Los Angeles in 2011, their first joint trip to America following their wedding that same year. This current visit comes as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also head to the east coast for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization’s Ripple of Hope Award Gala in NYC. Despite their proximity, according to Entertainment Tonight, the foursome has no plans to meet up.
