Prince William and Kate arrive in Boston with eye on environment
The first overseas trip by the Prince and Princess of Wales since the death of Queen Elizabeth II began Wednesday, an occasion to show the world as much about who they are not as who they are.
With their three-day visit to Boston, focused on Prince William’s initiative to find the environmental entrepreneurs of a new generation, supplemented with trips to an anti-poverty program, child development researchers and local flood defenses, the couple hope to demonstrate that they aren’t the last remnants of a dying institution. Instead, Americans will see the younger face of a monarchy that is tackling important issues as it seeks to remain relevant in modern, multicultural Britain.
William said he chose to hold the second Earthshot Prize in Boston partly because it’s the home turf of the President Kennedy, whose 1962 speech set the audacious goal of putting men on the moon within the decade.
“It was that moonshot speech that inspired me to launch the Earthshot Prize with the aim of doing the same for climate change as President Kennedy did for the space race. And where better to hold this year’s awards ceremony than in President Kennedy’s hometown,” William said.
The royal visit got off to a rainy, blustery start, but hundreds of people nonetheless waited in a steady downpour for the couple’s first public event at Boston City Hall, after arriving aboard a commercial British Airways flight. Later, the couple planned to attend a Boston Celtics NBA game.
The visit comes less than three months after the death of Elizabeth, whose personal popularity dampened criticism of the crown during her 70-year reign. King Charles III, William’s father, has made clear that his will be a slimmed-down monarchy, with less pomp and ceremony than its predecessors.
“I think this is less about saving the Earth and more about saving the royal family,’’ Boston University professor Arianne Chernock, an expert in modern British history, said. “To be honest, we’ve seen Charles as king and his first months in that position trying to feel his way, find his way towards being a more relevant, more modern monarch. And I think we see something similar happening with William and Kate.’’
An honorary member of the Buckingham Palace household repeatedly asked a Black woman who runs a London charity what country she “came from.”
Part of that reset involves reclaiming the hearts and minds of people in America, where William’s younger brother, Prince Harry, and sister-in-law, Meghan, have dominated the media since moving to California in 2020. Harry and Meghan have criticized the royal family for alleged racism and insensitive treatment and built their own media profile by making films and podcasts for Netflix and Spotify.
The trip got off to a rocky start when a lady in waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth apologized and resigned over allegations that she asked a prominent Black advocate for survivors of domestic abuse where she “really came from,” despite her insistence she was a British national.
Britain’s Press Assn. and a number of other media outlets in Britain identified the woman who made the remarks as Lady Susan Hussey, who served the monarch for more than 60 years. She is also a godmother to the Prince of Wales.
The Netflix series “The Crown” has also resurrected some of the more troubled times of the House of Windsor, including the collapse of Charles’ marriage to the late Princess Diana, William’s mother, amid mutual allegations of infidelity.
Queen Elizabeth’s death ended a remarkable 70-year rule — so long that most of Britain’s 68 million people have known no other sovereign.
But William and Kate are keen to tell a different story, about their work on environmental issues, mental health and early childhood education.
During a gala concert celebrating the queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, William delivered a speech highlighting his grandmother’s and father’s pioneering work on the environment, as images of jungles and oceans were projected on the walls of Buckingham Palace behind him.
Kate last week wrote an opinion piece on the need to improve the lives of young children that appeared in the Daily Telegraph, one of Britain’s most influential newspapers, alongside a photo of the princess sitting cross-legged among a group of elementary school students.
“Over the past 10 years, talking to a wide range of experts about how we deal with societal issues like poor mental and physical health, I have become more and more sure of one thing: If we are going to create a healthier and happier society for future generations, we must start by understanding and acknowledging the unique importance of the first five years of life,” she wrote.
William and Kate’s last visit to the United States was in 2014, not long after their wedding. During that trip, the glamorous young couple were feted as they toured the eastern U.S.
Eight years later, now in their 40s and with three young children, the prince and princess are finally having a return engagement.
On Wednesday, they were greeted at the airport by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker before heading to City Hall to meet Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov.-elect Maura Healey ahead of a visit to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library and Museum. President Biden planned to greet the couple later in the week.
City Hall, along with 15 other landmarks, was lit up in green to mark the kickoff of the Earthshot celebrations.
Andrew Warburton, who grew up in Bristol, England, but had never before seen the royal family, praised the work on the environment while waiting for the event. “I’m hoping to hear some good stuff about climate change and the efforts we are making to combat that. They represent the future in that way,” he said.
Pamela Spencer, a teacher from Rhode Island, gathered with her two sisters in hopes of giving William and Kate a bouquet of flowers.
“They are following in the footsteps of her late majesty. I’m really here to show them they have a lot of support in New England,” she said.
Later in the week, William and Kate will visit Roca Inc., highlighting the racial equity group’s efforts to improve the lives of young people by addressing issues such as poverty, incarceration and trauma from urban violence. They will also visit Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, a leader in research into the long-term impact of early childhood experiences.
But throughout the trip, William’s eye will be on the Earthshot Prize.
By focusing on the environment and climate change in particular, the royals are likely to strike a nerve in the U.S., where many people still deny the existence of human-made global warming, said author, social commentator and Washington Post contributor Sally Quinn. The ability of the royals to shine a light on the issue and fuse their fame with entertainers such as Billie Eilish, who is set to headline the awards show, is likely to make people pay attention.
If nothing else, it will put a face to the issue and make it more graspable than the technical presentations of scientists, Quinn said.
“Obviously the media and the attention will be good, not just because they’re celebrities and because they’re royals, but because they are serious people who care about issues,” Quinn said. “I mean, they’re not frivolous. They’re not partygoers. They’re not out dancing on tables every night. They’re really hardworking royals, and they’re issues that they care about.”
Earthshot offers $1.2 million in prize money to the winners of five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change. The winners and all 15 finalists also receive help in expanding their projects to meet global demand.
The winners are set to be announced Friday at Boston’s MGM Music Hall as part of a glitzy show headlined by Eilish, Annie Lennox, Ellie Goulding and Chloe x Halle. The show will also feature videos narrated by naturalist David Attenborough and actor Cate Blanchett.
The BBC’s Clara Amfo and American actor-producer Daniel Dae Kim were selected as co-hosts. The prize presenters include actors Rami Malek, Catherine O’Hara and Shailene Woodley.
The ceremony is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday on the BBC in the U.K., PBS in the U.S. and Multichoice across Africa.
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