Prince William hits DC; Kate joins NYC first lady

0

NEW YORK (AP) — While Britain’s Prince William met with President Barack Obama at the Oval Office on
Monday, his wife, Kate, toured a child development center with New York City’s first lady, Chirlane
McCray.

On the first full day of a trip partly devoted to discussing conservation and education issues, Kate
visited a Harlem organization that provides educational and mental health services to about 3,300
children and families each year. Meanwhile, William was scheduled to attend a World Bank conference and
discuss illegal wildlife trafficking.

Kate, dressed in a black coat by the British fashion brand Goat, was greeted with cheers from a crowd of
several dozen spectators as she stepped out of a black SUV and shook hands with McCray.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are making their first official visit to the U.S. since a 2011 trip to
California and their first taste of the Big Apple. William also is visiting the nation’s capital for the
first time, though he and the president have met before while Obama was in the United Kingdom.

The couple’s schedule is packed with events including a visit to the National Sept. 11 Memorial and
Museum, a reception highlighting conservation efforts with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton, a visit to showcase arts education at a youth organization, events
celebrating British talent in creative fields in New York, a Cleveland Cavaliers-Brooklyn Nets game and
a black-tie, up-to-$10,000-per-seat scholarship fundraiser for the University of St. Andrews.

Throngs of well-wishers awaited the royals, who are expecting their second child in April, as they
arrived Sunday evening at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. Some admirers had been waiting for hours,
behind police barricades, hoping for a glimpse of them.

They are visiting a city where thousands have protested over the past week to decry a grand jury’s
decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, Eric
Garner.

Even Cavaliers star LeBron James said Sunday it was "possible" he might wear a shirt saying
"I can’t breathe" — a rallying cry that has developed around Garner’s last words — before
Monday’s game.

He added that playing with William and Kate in the audience would be "a huge honor."

___

Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

No posts to display