The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have visited the Ground Zero September 11 memorial in New York as part of their whirlwind tour of the United States.
Prince William and Duchess Catherine began their second full day in New York with a visit to the recently opened 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero in downtown Manhattan. Prince William sheltered Catherine from the rainy weather with an umbrella as the Duchess lay a wreath of white roses at the reflecting pools commemorating the victims of the terrorist attack.
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The wreath was accompanied by a handwritten note from the couple which read: “In sorrowful memory of those who died on 11th September and in admiration of the courage shown to rebuild.”
The royal couple also toured the recently opened accompanying memorial museum where they viewed items of wreckage from the original World Trade Centre and wrote their electronic signatures next to a twisted piece of steel recovered from the wreckage of the twin towers.
The Duchess looked glowing in a pink overcoat to combat the gloomy weather as they then visited One World Trade Centre – the tallest building in America. The morning tour follows an evening spent at the basketball in Brooklyn where the couple met the royal couple of showbiz, Beyonce and Jay Z.
William and Catherine then also visited community centre The Door where they watched musical performances and chatted with locals before visiting Art Gallery the Neue House where they met with high profile creatives including film producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Patrick Stewart.
For this the Duchess looked more low-key in a simple black polo-neck dress and accompanying silver neckpiece.
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Later today Prince William is scheduled to visit the Empire State Building with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The couple will then later host a 600th anniversary dinner for St Andrews University – the place where they met and fell in love. It will be held at the famous at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and amongst the guests will be Tom Hanks, whose daughter attended and graduated from the university in 2004.
Duchess Catherine lays white roses at the memorial to the victims of September 11.
The flowers were accompanied by a touching handwritten note from the couple which read: “In sorrowful memory of those who died on 11th September and in admiration of the courage shown to rebuild.”