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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Rebecca Russell

Kate Middleton and Prince William's first US tour - Hollywood royalty and family reunion

The Prince and Princess of Wales have undertaken a number of royal tours in the 11 years since they married - whether that is to Australia and New Zealand with Prince George or to India and Pakistan in 2019 where they recreated Princess Diana's famous picture in front of the Taj Mahal.

Following their recent return from Boston for the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony, it is somewhat surprising that the couple have only toured the US three times during their decade as senior royals. Their first trip came in 2011 following a nine day visit to Canada but what did they do?

The Prince of Wales spoke at the Mission Serve: Hiring Our Heroes event in California (2011 Getty Images)

Following a successful nine-day tour of Canada, the newly married couple flew to California where they spent three days meeting well-wishers and Hollywood royalty.

Following their arrival at LAX and an official welcome at a hotel, the couple attended a reception in the garden of the Consul General’s residence in Los Angeles, where they stayed during their visit.

Among the 200 guests were David Beckham, Stephen Fry, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Prince William's distant cousin Lord Frederick Windsor.

The couple made clay handprints in Los Angeles (2011 Getty Images)
The pair also attended the BAFTA Brits To Watch event and brushed shoulders with many famous faces (2011 Getty Images)

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The following day, Prince William played at the Santa Barbara Polo Club in a charity match - the Foundation Polo Cup - in aid of the American Friends of the Foundation.

After riding to victory, the-then Duchess presented the trophy to her husband and his winning teammates.

The couple were then the guests of honour at the BAFTA Brits To Watch event, held at the Belasco Theatre in Downtown LA and were pictured alongside the likes of Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez.

Elsewhere during their three-day visit, they carried out an engagement at the Inner-City Arts School which offers children from deprived neighbourhoods in LA art classes and other forms of support.

The couple met some very well-known celebrities (2011 Getty Images)
The couple joked about one another's art skills in Los Angeles (2012 AFP)

While they were there, the couple were pictured chatting to students, making clay hand prints and joking about one another's art skills.

After that they stopped off at Culver City's Sony Studios and Prince William made a speech at the Service Nation: Mission Serve job fair.

This trip marked The Prince and Princess of Wales' first visit to the US in an official capacity, but they were back three years later for an exciting trip to New York.

The-then Duchess was 18 weeks pregnant with Princess Charlotte at the time but managed to keep up with the jam-packed schedule.

During the stay, the couple paid their respects at the 9/11 memorial, attended a reception hosted by former First Lady Hillary Clinton, watched the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers play one another in a basketball game and sat down for a dinner to mark the 600th anniversary of St Andrews University - the place where they famously met in 2001.

Elsewhere during the stay, Prince William made a short solo visit to meet President Barack Obama and stood on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

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