Inside Prince William And Catherine Middleton's Upcoming Trip To The US

Royal fans in the U.S. have been waiting a long time for Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to make an encore visit. The couple last came to the U.S. in December 2014 and were greeted by enthusiastic crowds during their three-day tour of New York and Washington DC. 

"They're the royals of my generation," Rose Holyan, a royal fan told The Guardian. "I just love their story." Danny Lopez, British consul-general to New York told the outlet, "It has been incredible to witness the level of excitement from people here wanting to be part of this. The excitement in New York has been absolutely phenomenal."

In the years since, William and Catherine have kept the U.S. in mind as they planned future overseas tours. "Team Cambridge is very focused on America and making sure they have a high profile over there," a royal source told Vanity Fair. The source acknowledged that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's stunning Oprah interview was part of the Cambridges' motivation behind the visit. "[They] are aware that their popularity took a bit of a dive post the Oprah interview, and that the focus now is on getting that support back. America is a very important audience for them." 

And now, thanks to a recent announcement, it sounds like we won't have that much longer to discover the American public's reaction to another royal visit from the duke and duchess.

On July 20, 2022 Prince William and Catherine Middleton tweeted a short video announcing that The Earthshot Prize ceremony for this year will be held in December in Boston, Masachusetts. According to Town & Country, both William and Catherine are planning to attend the event, which will award a £1 million prize to each of the five winners.

The Duke of Cambridge has had the United States in mind since the Prize's inaugural awards ceremony in 2021. "This is just the start," William told People. "I'm thrilled that in 2022, The Earthshot Prize will be heading to the United States, where we will continue to spread this vital message of urgency, optimism and action." 

According to a press release tweeted by journalist Omid Scobie, The Earthshot Prize was created in 2020 by Prince William and The Royal Foundation. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy wrote, "It is a great tribute to President Kennedy that The Earthshot Prize will partner with the JFK Library Foundation to host the 2022 ceremony in Boston and inspire a new generation with the possibility of a sustainable future."

The award takes its name as a spin on President John F. Kennedy's "Moonshot." While Kennedy's program was an ambitious bid to put a human on the moon, the ceremony for William's Earthshot Prize will recognize "15 incredible Finalists from around the world, each representing a groundbreaking solution to repair our planet."

Over a 10-year period, five winners for The Earthshot Prize will be selected each year across five different categories: "Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate." When he created the award, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, told BBC Radio 4, "I felt very much that there's a lot of people wanting to do many good things for the environment and what they need is a bit of a catalyst, a bit of hope, a bit of positivity that we can actually fix what's being presented," per Town & Country.

Now an independent charity, The Earthshot Prize was also inspired by the Duke of Cambridge's commitment to creating a better world for his three children. Jason Knauf, former CEO of The Royal Foundation and new Earthshot trustee, said, per People, "The challenge the Duke set himself was, 'What is the maximum positive personal contribution I can make in the next 10 years in the fight against climate change? What am I going to do in the next decade that means I can look my children in the eye and say that I did my bit?' Every aspect of the Prize bears the stamp of his contribution."

While The Earthshot Prize has links to Prince William and Catherine Middleton's children, it is not likely their U.S. trip will have any other family ties. Other than their time in Boston, no further details or locations of the Cambridges' upcoming trip have been released. However, royal experts agree on one thing they probably won't be doing: stopping in California for a visit with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

According to royal expert Neil Sean, a trip to the U.S. could be a great opportunity for the brothers to repair their royal rift. However, he doesn't see this coming to fruition. "They're planning a packed schedule with no private time for visits. Very nice and regally put," he told Express. "This all centres upon the fact that William is finding it very hard to move on from all those allegations that Harry put out about him and his family via Oprah."

A family visit could also create more problems than it solves. "It's a sort of lose-lose situation," says royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti. "If they get invited and they decline, it seems petty and nasty. And if they don't get invited, it seems petty and nasty from the other side," he told Us Weekly. "And if they do accept such an invitation and something goes terribly wrong, that seems like a bad idea."