Don’t worry darling...I’ve got your back
A race row back home. Harry and Meghan sniping from the sidelines. But William and Kate look more of a team than ever
IT WAS the touching moment when the Prince and Princess of Wales wowed America, rescuing their Royal visit from the shadow of Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Netflix trailer.
As Kate dazzled onlookers at the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Boston in a floor-length green evening gown, she and William put on a rare public display of tactile warmth. The couple repeatedly put their hands on each other’s backs as they greeted celebrity guests including David Beckham at the stellar event.
The couple were as approachable and informal as they’ve ever been, with their crowd-pleasing moment coming just days after the release of the trailer for the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary and amid the ongoing racism row that cost the late Queen’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Susan Hussey, her honorary role at the Palace.
In a landmark moment, Kate wore a dress rented for £74 a night from fashion providers Hurr – a move as appropriate as its colour for the environmental awards. Matching it was an emerald choker given to Queen Mary by the Ladies of India in 1911, then passed down to the late Queen who gave it to Princess Diana on a lifelong loan.
Earlier in the day, Prince William met President Joe Biden to discuss his environmental project which will grant £50million to planet-saving projects over the next decade.
After Beckham arrived at the awards ceremony on Friday night, Kate gave him a kiss on the cheek. He is thought to have been in the US on other business after working in Qatar for the World Cup.
The former England footballer had been invited by Prince William, as the pair have been friends since they worked on England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
Among the guests at the MGM
Music Hall in Boston were singers Annie Lennox and Ellie Goulding, actor Rami Malek, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and Republican Senator Mitt Romney.
In a pointed tweet, Goulding, who performed at the ceremony, wrote that ‘despite distractions elsewhere’ it was important to focus on those who won Earthshot prizes.
The biggest cheers from members of the public were reserved for the royal couple. After posing for photographs – a new direction for William, who usually walks past the waiting banks of lenses – the couple waved to the crowds who had waited for hours in bitter Boston temperatures to catch a glimpse. When Kate took to the stage to present an award, she barely glanced at the autocue in front of her. Her voice was less formal than during previous speeches and she agreed to a selfie with stars backstage afterwards.
At an informal after-show party, William revealed the scale of his ambition for Earthshot, even mooting plans to link up with the world’s biggest polluter, China. He told actress Shailene Woodley: ‘We want to big it up. To have it in a different place every year: China, Indonesia, South America, Australia, New Zealand. We have to work out where to go and when.’ He joked: ‘That’s the hard bit. Everything else is easy.’
The couple’s spokesman said that for their first international trip since the Queen’s death, the Prince and Princess had been most excited about ‘meeting ordinary folk’.
The Earthshot ceremony will air on BBC1 at 5.35pm tonight.