The Cambridges do New York

There will be “a little bit of royalty at the White House today,” spokesman Josh Earnest told the press one day in December. That little bit was 6 foot 2 inches tall and answered to the name of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, third in line to the British throne. The prince was on a lightening visit to Washington that included meeting President Obama.

The two of them discussed wildlife poaching, especially the illegal ivory trade that is decimating the world’s elephant population, a subject close to Prince William’s heart, the ISIS threat, other global issues — and babies. Well, one particular baby, the duke’s firstborn son Prince George.

The duke revealed that George’s birth was so chaotic that he forgot to ask if the baby was a boy or girl — a gem of inside information that future biographers will cherish.

Babies were also the topic of conversation between the prince’s wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with the woman who may well become the next American president dispensing advice on the benefits of singing to babies.

And still on the subject of babies, the Duchess of Cambridge, known simply as Kate to millions of people, is herself pregnant and expecting her second child in April. The royal couple was on a three-day visit to New York, including Prince William’s quick side-trip to Washington — his first.

Kensington Palace (now the Cambridges’ residence) had originally announced that the duke would attend a conference on corruption at the World Bank in Washington, at which he was expected to highlight the links between wildlife poaching and money laundering. The information that he would also call on the president at the White House was added on the eve of the couple’s arrival — either for security reasons, or because the White House took its time confirming the visit (not an unusual occurrence).

The Duke of Cambridge is now confronting the unique challenge of being a monarch in waiting: What to do until his turn comes around? Earlier this year, he stopped being an active member of the British Armed Forces (he is a fully qualified RAF search-and-rescue helicopter pilot) and will devote more time to his charities and causes, including the Tusk Trust, United for Wildlife, and the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, which is active with children, young people, veterans and serving members of the armed forces (Prince Harry remains a serving army officer).

Members of the Cambridges’ household privately admit that this is a transitional year for the second in line to the throne while he considers what are officially described as “a number of options for public service.” Meanwhile, says Kensington Palace, “He will continue to support the work of the Queen and the royal family through a program of official engagements, both at home and overseas, with the Duchess of Cambridge.”

The trip to New York and Washington was undertaken in the context of official engagements by the duke and duchess. The White House mentioned, not once, but twice, that the Duke of Cambridge’s visit “underscores the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”

The focus on wildlife conservation was a winner with the White House because the Obama administration had already addressed the problem in August as part of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit’s agenda. It promised African states with game reserves increased help in combating poaching. Some African governments even asked for surveillance drones to patrol their wildlife areas.

The Duke of Cambridge stayed on message even in New York, where, addressing a reception, he said, “I’m pretty exercised, to put it mildly, about the plight of some of the world’s most iconic species. These species are being illegally butchered in the name of trinkets and medicine.”

He went on, “It’s easy to blame others for the problem — demand in Southeast Asia, not enough protection on the ground and so on. But, if I may say, we could start with looking closer to home. Our own nations still have thriving black markets in these products, and we have to raise the game at home as well as abroad. But it’s not all doom and gloom. You’re the lights at the end of the tunnel. What all of us in this room represent, and tens of thousands of people out there, is solid purpose — a determination not to let our generation be the one that let this catastrophe occur.”

While her husband was in Washington, Duchess Kate had her own program, visiting the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem, where the children thought she was the princess from the Disney cartoon “Frozen.” Accompanied by Chirlane McCray, wife of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Duchess helped wrap Christmas gifts and joined young children in decorating picture frames, crouching down to talk to them at their level in a manner reminiscent of her husband’s late mother Princess Diana.

On a sombre, rainy December morning the couple also laid a wreath at New York’s 9/11 Memorial (with a card written by the duchess herself) and toured the museum.

But on the lighter side, their schedule included a visit to the Empire State Building, and their first ever experience at a professional basketball game. They watched the Cleveland Cavaliers wipe out the Brooklyn Nets 110 – 88 at the Barclays Center. After that came a pre-arranged, center-court meeting with American royalty — Beyoncé and her rapper husband Jay-Z, an encounter bathed in the flashes of hundreds of fans’ cell phones. Their visit ended with a $6,000-a-head black-tie fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the couple’s alma mater, the University of St. Andrews, the Scottish institution where William and Kate first met. Prince William and actor Tom Hanks, whose daughter attended the school, spoke at the event.

Conversing with William and Kate at the Barclays Center, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James asked the prince his shoe size. “Half the size of yours,” replied the prince. Stepping into someone else’s shoes is something the Duke of Cambridge knows all about.