The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge laid flowers at the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan on Tuesday and paid personal tribute to the victims who lost their lives in the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Amid lashing rain, the royal couple arrived at the National September 11 Museum and Memorial on the final day of their three-day visit to the US east coast. The duke held an umbrella borrowed from the Hotel Carlyle for his wife as they walked through the tree-lined plaza to lay a bouquet at the memorial site erected in the footprints of the twin towers. Kate stood out against the grey morning haze in a fuchsia Mulberry coat, which she wore over a UK label Seraphine maternity dress.
The duchess placed a wreath of white roses, the New York state flower, on the bronze edging around one of the twin reflecting pools, where the names of the nearly 3,000 victims, including 67 Britons, are inscribed.
They placed their flowers at a spot where the names of 40 passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11, are recorded.
A handwritten message on the flowers said: “In sorrowful memory of those who died on 11th September, and in admiration of the courage shown to rebuild.” Underneath the message, they signed their names – William and Catherine.
They then toured the recently opened museum that stands next to the site of the World Trade Center.
Joe Daniels, the museum’s chief executive and president, said: “You could see it really in both their eyes, the sort of care and curiosity they had for the story of what happened and the people who died that day.”
The duchess touched on controversy when she reportedly asked how the victims’ families felt about the museum. Behind a wall there are the fragments of human remains that have remained unidentified – a decision accepted by most families, but regarded as an affront to the dignity of the dead by some. Daniels told the duchess that the “vast majority” of the families had been impressed with the museum and the care that went into its design.
The museum’s chief of staff, Allison Blais, said Kate “talked about how in awe she was of the enormity of the space. It was something she did not anticipate. She also talked about how moving the memorial was, and being able to touch the names of the victims outside on the pools.”
After the museum tour, the couple briefly visited the lobby of the newly built One World Trade Center, located near the site.
Inside the blue-panelled 104-storey glass building, they admired a vast abstract mural by the Brooklyn-based artist José Parlá and a huge Christmas tree.
Later this afternoon, the duke will accompany New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, to the top of the Empire State Building, though the nasty weather may hinder their visit. Aides have said William is very excited to visit the skyscraper, promising to brave the rain for a glimpse of the city’s skyline from the 86th floor.
On Monday night, the royal couple attended their first-ever NBA basketball game, amid ongoing protests in the city over the death in a police chokehold of Eric Garner.
As the royal couple dined with NBA executives and the basketball elite, demonstrators lay in the street outside the arena to protest against the decision not to indict the police officer implicated in Garner’s death. In a show of sympathy with the protesters, the Cavaliers star LeBron James, warmed up in a shirt that read: “I can’t breathe” – Garner’s final words.
During the second half, William and Kate shook hands with pop royals Beyoncé and Jay Z, and after the game finished, posed for photos with James, who gave the couple custom jerseys and cupcakes from his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
