Prince William and Kate Middleton are traveling to Boston in the US this week for the Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony on Friday, and the royals have added a few more engagements to their diary.
The two are visiting America for the first time since 2014 ― and the very first time as the Prince and Princess of Wales, titles they received following the death of Queen Elizabeth in September.
Though William previously revealed in July that the two would be in Massachusetts in December for the awards ceremony, the royal couple will now be arriving two days earlier on Wednesday, November 30, to undertake a series of engagements before heading to their star-studded environmental awards show on Friday, December 2.
Read on for all the details you need to know.
When and why will the royals be in Boston?
The royals will be in Boston this week, from Wednesday, Nov. 30 to Friday, December 2. Boston is of special significance to William’s recently launched environmental awards, which were inspired by President Kennedy (who was born in the area) and Kennedy’s “Moonshot” ambitions to get a man on the moon.
What’s on the agenda for William and Kate’s visit?
While the two haven’t announced a visit to Legal Sea Foods or the Sail Loft just yet, the royals have a packed schedule ahead of them.
On Wednesday, the Prince and Princess of Wales will head to Boston’s City Hall, where they will meet with Michelle Wu, the mayor of Boston, and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy for a special kickoff to the awards ceremony.
The next day, William and Kate will visit Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech incubator in North America. Shortly after, they will visit Roca Inc., an organisation that is focused on young adults aged 16-24 years who “have experienced extensive trauma and are the primary victims or drivers of urban violence.”
On Friday, the prince and princess will undertake separate engagements before the awards show. Kate will visit The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, in keeping with the royal’s work focusing on early childhood development, while William will once again reunite with Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and visit the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Then, it’s off to the awards show for the two’s final Boston engagement.
What will the awards show look like?
The ceremony will take place at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, which is where the five Earthshot winners ― out of the current fifteen nominees ― will be announced.
If the event is anything like the inaugural ceremony last year, it will have a green carpet instead of a traditional red carpet ahead of the show. Last year, the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recycled previously worn looks, as attendees were encouraged to “consider the environment when choosing their outfit.”
Earlier this year, Earthshot Prize CEO Hannah Jones told HuffPost that the organisation is also focused on creating a sustainably produced awards show, and gave some insight on how they plan to do that.
“We’re very ambitious about how we really want to walk the talk,” Jones told HuffPost in September at the Plaza Hotel in New York. “So thinking about ‘What is our footprint, and how do we mitigate it and how do we avoid having a bigger impact.’”
“We won’t be perfect. Nobody’s perfect,” Jones added. “This is the journey of sustainability ― it’s about a journey of progress. But our objective is to always make sure that we’re embedding sustainable thinking into everything we do.”
