Prince William and Princess Kate are in Boston for three days this week, culminating in the Earthshot Prize awards gala on Friday. Here's a recap of what has happened during their U.S. trip so far.
They took a commercial British Airways flight for the benefit of the environment, and were described by fellow passengers as "utterly delightful," Hello! reports.
Upon landing in Boston on Wednesday, the royal couple learned about the racist incident that occurred at Buckingham Palace this week.
One of William's godmothers, Lady Susan Hussey, harassed a Black guest with racist questions, before apologizing and resigning.
The Palace responded within hours, and a spokesman for the Prince of Wales said: "I was really disappointed to hear about the guest's experience. Racism has no place in our society. These comments were unacceptable and it's right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect" (via People).
The Waleses carried on with their engagements as planned, and William released a statement on social media, which read:
"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 also took the opportunity to pay homage to the late Queen:
"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."
He then tied it all back into the work at hand, that is the fight for the climate:
"My grandmother was one of life's optimists. And so am I. This 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 concluded:
"To the people of Boston, thank you. I'm so grateful for you 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."
To the people of Boston, thank you pic.twitter.com/dUHmHdIVeyNovember 30, 2022
The royal spouses were then welcomed by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu at City Hall, followed by a public event outside City Hall with governor-elect Maura Healey.
For this, the Waleses paid tribute to Bostonian green. The princess donned a Burberry tartan dress in shades of green, under a forest green coat by Alexander McQueen, and accessorized with green suede heeled pumps and a matching Mulberry handbag.
The prince wore a green tie and a blue-green wool coat.
Braving the elements, William said in his speech, "May I say thank you to all the hardy Bostonians braving the rain this evening. Catherine and I are absolutely delighted to be with you today for our first engagement in the great city of Boston, as we start the countdown to the Earthshot Prize awards this Friday."
Royal photographer Chris Jackson gave further insight into the weather via Instagram, where he captioned a picture of the princess with the words, "The Princess of Wales looks up during a torrential downpour at the 'Welcome to Earthshot' event at Boston Town Hall today (I’m still drying off)"
As royal expert Christine Ross previously predicted to Marie Claire, Bostonians came out en masse to catch a glimpse of the royals. They variously held up umbrellas, smartphone cameras and signs professing their love for the couple.
Lastly, because the Waleses only have three days in Beantown, they packed in one last must-do event before calling it a day: They attended an oh-so-American basketball game between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden, sitting courtside à la Pete Davidson and Emily Ratajkowski.
For this event, the princess rewore her royal blue vintage Chanel blazer from an October engagement.
The sporty royals looked to be having the time of their life.
If this were CNN, I'd leave you with: more as we have it.
