Royal news: William and Kate announce Earthshot Prize winners as trip overshadowed by palace racism row

Prince William and Kate were praised for their grasp of climate issues by climate expert Joe Christo, who met with the royal couple on Thursday (1 December) during their tour of Boston.

“I’ve lived in Boston for a lot of my life and it was just cold, windy and blustery,” Mr Christo told The Independent. “But Prince William and Princess Kate were hardy, they did a great job. They had a great conversation with us.”

Louise Boyle reports.

US President Joe Biden is set to meet William and Kate in Boston as they visit the US for the first time in eight years.

“The president intends to greet the Prince and Princess of Wales when he is in Boston,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.

The royals’ press team also confirmed that the meeting would occur.

Mr Biden’s schedule indicated that the meeting would take place at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum.

Ms Jean-Pierre said the White House was “still finalizing and working through the details” and didn’t go into further detail about the meeting.

The administration previously announced that Mr Biden would be in the city to attend a Democratic fundraiser.

William and Kate are in the US to attend the Earthshot Prize Ceremony, which gives $1m to projects aiming to solve climate problems by 2030.

“Like President Kennedy, Catherine and I firmly believe that we all have it in ourselves to achieve great things and that human beings have the ability to lead, innovate and problem solve,” William said at Boston City Hall.

Sources close to Prince William and Princess Kate have nicknamed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “the Kardashians” in a sharp response to the trailer for their new Netflix documentary series. 

The Times report that “royal insiders” believe that Harry and Meaghan “deliberately torpedoed” William and Kate’s visit to the US by allowing the streaming giant to release the first look of the documentary during the US visit.

According to the paper, William and Kate’s trip was “derailed for the second day running by external events”.

On Wednesday, the big royal news story was the resignation of royal household member Lady Susan Hussey following her “unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments” to a Black charity boss.

A source close to William and Kate told The Times that Harry and Meaghan had been nicknamed “the Kardashians” because “they want all the attention they can possibly get”.

“They are two people who are accepting awards for themselves, talking about themselves, doing programmes about themselves,” the source said, adding that William and Kate are “active members of the royal family who have a job to shine a spotlight on other people, give awards to other people. That’s the contrast”.

One source close to William and Kate told The Times that the timing of Harry and Meaghan’s documentary trailer release was “definitely deliberate, without any question. But not at all unexpected”.

The paper reported that the feeling among the group surrounding William and Kate was “one of resignation, even amusement, rather than anger”.

A source told the Daily Mail that it was “hard not to make the comparison” to the Kardashians.

“One can only conclude this is a concerted publicity drive on their behalf to stoke up interest in this documentary and is designed to clash with the Wales’ visit this week,” another source told The Mail. 

“The prince and princess’ high-profile trip to the States to shine a light on community projects in Boston and the environmental crisis is being apparently used as a platform for the Sussexes to create the drama and attention they so clearly crave on a personal level, as well as content for the multi-million dollar deal they have signed since quitting as working royals,” the source added. “While the Waleses will carry on with their duties, Team Sussex appears determined to remind America of their own ‘compassionate activism’—one lucrative contract at a time.”

The Telegraph reported a source close to William and Kate as saying that “you can see the contrast between the royals focusing attention on the communities of Boston and the Earthshot Prize, and others busy talking about themselves and making money”.

In the trailer for Harry and Meaghan’s new Netflix documentary series, Harry says “I had to do everything I could to protect my family”.

According to The Daily Beast, Netflix issued a statement saying that “Harry & Meghan is an unprecedented six-part documentary series that explores the span of their relationship, from the early days of the couple’s courtship to the challenges and controversies that prompted them to step back from the royal family”.