William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, laid flowers Tuesday at one of New York City’s most sombre sites – the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum.
The royal couple crossed the memorial plaza in pouring rain and wind, each holding a black umbrella. The duchess smiled as she spoke with memorial and museum president Joe Daniels before the royals laid a bouquet at one of two reflecting pools built in the footprints of the fallen towers. Each is ringed with the chiseled names of the nearly 2,900 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa.
The morning visit to the site where 67 British citizens died – the most of any foreign country – came on the last day of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s trip. Their visit to New York and his to Washington was the first time either of them has visited those cities.
Here is what they’ve been up to so far:
At the White House
On Monday, William went to the White House and spoke at a World Bank conference.
Kids of New York
The duchess wrapped Christmas gifts and helped children decorate picture frames while touring a child development centre with New York City’s first lady, then talked technology, theatre and more with a British-success-story guest list at a lunch at the consul-general’s home.
The duchess and first lady Chirlane McCray met with families and heard about the work of the Northside Center for Child Development, which offers mental health and educational services.
“Very nice to meet you,” Kate told a classroom of three- and four-year-olds, who were embellishing picture frames with stickers.
A night with the Clintons
In the evening, the couple attended a reception at the British consul-general’s residence co-hosted by the Royal Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, celebrating conservation efforts. When they arrived, they spent some time talking with former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky.
As they were heading to the reception, Catherine stopped to talk to a little girl, six-year-old Blake Zarkowsky, who was there with her parents and grandparents.
“I love your shoes and socks,” Catherine told her. “They look very Christmas-y.”
The royal court
After the reception, the couple then headed over to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to watch a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Before the game, William asked which team to support, and was told to root for both. The couple was meeting NBA executives and former player Dikembe Mutombo, marking a collaboration that would help raise awareness about animal trafficking.
Next to Mutombo, William said, “At last I’m standing next to someone who is taller than me.”
The shadow of Eric Garner
The royals are visiting a city where thousands of people 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. Demonstrators were outside the Barclays Center on Monday night.
In the pre-game warm-up, Cavaliers players LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and multiple players on the Nets wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts, a rallying cry that has developed around Garner’s last words.