President Barack Obama meets with William, Duke of Cambridge, in the Oval Office on Dec. 8, 2014.JACQUELYN MARTIN/The Associated Press
Washington and New York are getting a dose of royalty.
William, Duke of Cambridge, arrived at the White House Monday for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. The two men sat side-by-side in the Oval Office and exchanged pleasantries before a crush of journalists, but made no statements.
In New York, the duke's wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was touring a New York City child development centre with the city's first lady.
The Duchess of Cambridge shook hands with Chirlane McCray before both entered the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem on Monday morning. The duchess was greeted with cheers from a crowd of several dozen spectators standing behind police barricades across the street.
The centre provides educational and mental health services to about 3,300 children and families each year.
The royal couple arrived in New York on Sunday for their first official visit to the U.S. since 2011. However, the duke arrived in Washington solo for his visit to the White House and a speech on wildlife trafficking at the World Bank.
During their three-day trip, the royals will be staying at the Carlyle Hotel, a favourite of the duke's late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when she visited Manhattan in the 1990s.
The royal couple, who are expecting their second child in April, have scheduled a full slate of events in New York, including a visit to the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum and a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Their visit also will include events with other high-profile guests. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton are accompanying William and Kate to a New York reception highlighting conservation efforts.
William and Kate also are due to join Tom Hanks, opera singer Renee Fleming and others at a black-tie, up-to-$10,000-per-seat scholarship fundraiser for the University of St. Andrews, the Scottish institution where the royal couple met and earned degrees.