Paying tribute. Kate Middleton and Prince William‘s New York City trip took a serious turn on Tuesday morning, Dec. 9, after they spent Monday evening having a little fun at the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers game at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
The royal pair dressed in their best for a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in lower Manhattan. Wearing a bright fuchsia Mulberry coat with opaque tights and black gloves and heels, the Duchess spent time at the reflecting pools with her husband, who donned a dark suit with a white collared shirt.
Accompanied by a press pool, including Us Weekly’s European Bureau Chief Omid Scobie, the couple laid white roses, the state flower of New York, on a portion of the memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives in the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
The classic flowers were accompanied by a handwritten note reading, “In sorrowful memory of those who died on 11th Sep & in admiration of the courage to rebuild.”
The royals were photographed taking in the names of those who died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93. Carrying 33 passengers, the plane was hijacked before crashing in Pennsylvania.
“Kate and William spent about a minute reflecting in front of the tridents from Tower One as they made their way downstairs to the museum for 20 minutes,” an onlooker tells Us. “The royal couple then walked out of the museum and took in the scenery.”
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Inside the museum, the royal couple took in a wall of 2,983 blue tiles, which represents the nearly 3,000 people who died in the 2001 and 1993 terrorist attacks. The wall bears the Virgil quote, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” They also visited the “In Memoriam” exhibit, which “commemorates the lives” of those who died. See more photos from Will and Kate’s visit.
During their visit to the remembrance site, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 32, met with Steve Plate, director of the WTC Construction; Glen Guzi, Program Director of the Port Authority; and Joe Daniels, the president of the September 11 Memorial and Museum.
