US President Joe Biden plans to meet the Prince and Princess of Wales on Friday in Boston, the White House has said. Prince William and Catherine have arrived in the US, where they will hand out awards for their Earth shot Prize. Shortly after landing, the prince thanked the US city for hosting his environmental awards.
The Earth shot Prize was launched in 2020 to search for innovative solutions to problems facing the planet. The arrival of the royal couple comes as a spokesperson for Prince William sought to distance the royal from a race row back in the UK. His godmother Lady Susan Hussey, a member of the Royal Household, resigned after repeatedly asking a black British charity boss where she was “really” from. Prince William said he wanted to thank the people of Boston for “their many tributes paid to the Queen”, on this, his first overseas visit since her death. “My grandmother was one of life’s optimists. And so am I. That is why last year we launched the Earth shot 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 said.
“To the people of Boston, thank you. I’m so grateful to you for allowing us to host the second year of the Earth shot Prize in your great city. “Catherine and I can’t wait to meet many of you in the days ahead.” Asked about the arrival of the royal couple, the White House said that President Biden intends to greet them and his team are “working through the details” It is far from the ideal start to this visit. Events at Buckingham Palace on Monday have been embarrassing and distracting.
The focus for the Prince and Princess of Wales in the United States was due to be environmental innovation, optimism about the future and meetings with a wide range of communities in Boston. Before the royal couple had even arrived in the city, their spokesperson had issued a strongly worded statement condemning racism and supporting the decision of Prince William’s godmother, Lady Susan Hussey, to step aside. Timing mattered here. Condemnation of her remarks from both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace was swift and unequivocal.
In issuing a statement at the very start of their American visit, the Prince and Princess of Wales have made their position and feelings on the matter explicitly clear – there is no place for this kind of comment and questioning within the royal household. And all this just a few days before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are due in New York to receive a human rights award from the Robert F Kennedy Foundation. Robert Kennedy’s daughter, Kerry, says Harry and Meghan were chosen for the honour due to their “heroic stand” against “structural racism” within the royal family.
Five winners of the Earth shot Prize will be announced in Boston on Friday – each will be given £1m ($1.2m) to develop their environmental projects. Among the 15 finalists are the inventors of a bubble pump designed to catch plastics before they reach the ocean. For the first time there are also finalists from the UK, including London start-up Notpla, which makes packaging from seaweed and plants as an alternative to single-use plastic. Prince William has described the people in the shortlist for the prize – now in its second year – as “innovators, leaders and visionaries”. The prize was inspired by US President John F Kennedy’s “Moonshot” programme, which resulted in the US Apollo lunar launches and the first man setting foot on the Moon in 1969.
