William and Catherine arrive in New York; Wills meets Obama in D.C.

Prince William and his wife Catherine have taken New York! The royal couple arrived Sunday to much fanfare and a jam-packed two-day schedule.

The royal couple, who are expecting their second child in April, traveled without son Prince George and were greeted by ardent fans when they arrived at the Carlyle Hotel on Sunday evening. The Manhattan lodging was a favorite of William’s late mother, Princess Diana, when she frequented New York in the 1990s, the Associated Press reported.

Later that night, the couple visited ad exec Martin Sorrell’s Manhattan home for a dinner party with wealthy donors to their Royal Foundation, the Mirror reported.

On Monday, William, second in line to the British throne, took a day trip to Washington, D.C., where he met with President Obama in the Oval Office.

While in the capital, William also visited the World Bank with former British Foreign Secretary William Hague and attended the International Corruption Hunters Alliance Conference. There he gave a speech on the illegal wildlife trade -- one of the many conservation issues he’ll be addressing at the couple’s engagements.

During Wills’ D.C. trip, Catherine met with Chirlane McCray, wife of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, at the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem. The Duchess of Cambridge and New York City’s first lady heard from the center’s executive director, Thelma Dye, and were scheduled to take part in gift-wrapping with volunteers and meet with students making crafts.

After that, the former Kate Middleton was scheduled to head to the British consul general’s residence and meet with members of the Big Apple’s British community from the culture, arts, hospitality and business sectors.

The couple will reunite Monday night to attend a reception to be held by the couple’s Royal Foundation and the Clinton Foundation to recognize various wildlife conservation organizations. There they’ll be accompanied by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton.

They’ll also watch the NBA match-up between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers to launch a collaboration among the Royal Foundation, United for Wildlife and the NBA. (We can only hope that Nets co-owner Jay Z and wife Beyonce will be sitting courtside with the couple.)

On Tuesday, the duke and duchess will visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and cap off the trip with the University of St. Andrews’ 600th Anniversary Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The stateside stopover marks the royal couple’s second trip to the U.S. since they were married in April 2011 and their first visits to New York and Washington. They last came to the U.S. as newlyweds in July 2011 when they stopped off in California after a tour of Canada.

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