The royal dynamic duo, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, linked up again in the Big Apple Monday evening, partying with Hillary Clinton before heading to an NBA game in Brooklyn, where they finally shook hands with another kind of royalty -- Jay Z and Beyoncé.Will and Kate took their courtside seats with 7:14 left in the third quarter of theCleveland Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets. As they were about to enter the arena, there was commotion in one of the tunnels leading to the court, and a majority of fans stood up to see them.
Between the third and fourth quarters, Jay Z and Beyoncé walked to Will and Kate and shook hands.
New York City rolled out the red carpet for Prince William and Duchess Kate as they started a busy three-day visit. Prince William met with President Obama on Monday, while Kate visited children in Harlem and New York's first lady Chirlane McCray. VPC
Maybe that's why Kate decided to accompany Will to the early-evening event, a party to celebrate the Tusk Trust, United for Wildlife and other conservation groups, which originally Will was scheduled to attend alone.
The once and possibly future occupants of the White House mingled with the occupants of Kensington Palace at the British Consul's residence in New York.
Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, and their Clinton Foundation co-hosted the reception with the Cambridge Royal Foundation, because the Clinton Foundation is involved in protecting elephants (not the Republican kind).
William had an animated chat with Chelsea and her husband Marc Mezvinsky and there was a mutual exchange of congratulations about babies (Chelsea just gave birth; Prince George is almost 18 months old).
Then, as they walked through the lobby to the reception, Kate stopped to greet a little girl named Blake Zarkowsky, 6, of New York, in sparkly shoes, there with her parents and grandparents, who were guests. "I love your shoes and socks. They look very Christmasy," Kate said and asked the girl her name.
"I told her that I was a distant relative of hers," Louise joked. "I actually have a daughter named Kate, she gets a lot of free drinks. Kate and William were very friendly . She couldn't have been nicer, she was very attentive and she really seemed as though she was listening to what we add to say, took her time, wasn't in a rush to meet the next person."
Kate was wearing black skinny jeans topped with a tweedy black and blue Tory Burchcoat sprinkled with silvery bits, plus high heels.
Will got laughs when he joked that he kept his speech at the reception short because he planned to "shoot hoops, or whatever it is you Americans say" at theBarclays Center with the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Which should be interesting if true: The young royals are sporty to the max but mostly about such sports as tennis, polo, rugby and soccer.
But royals fans were most looking forward to seeing Mr. and Mrs. Cambridge meet Mr. and Mrs. Carter, Beyoncé and Jay Z, who used to be part owners of the Nets, and "King" LeBron James of the Cavs.
"Jay Z and Beyoncé are at a lot of games — that's the royal couple of Brooklyn," joked Nets guard Deron Williams before the game.
Beyoncé was spotted at the game but we're still awaiting the meet-and-greet picture.
There's a serious reason for the royals to link up with the NBA, says Kathy Behrens, the league's executive vice president of social responsibility and player programs, in a one-on-one interview with USA TODAY.
"This came about specifically through John Amaechi, a former NBA player," she says. "John is actually an ambassador for the Royal Foundation's Coach Core program. He said to them that he should introduce the Royal Foundation to the NBA, and let's see if we can get two great organizations together and have more of an impact ...They've been great to work with and we're looking forward to not just obviously this event but a really long partnership."
Meanwhile, security was tight and beefed up at the Barclays Center: Protesters in New York, Washington and other cities have succeeded in shutting down some neighborhoods by lying down in the streets, including in front of the arena.
Earlier on Monday, Will popped down to Washington on the shuttle and dropped in on Obama at the White House, where POTUS backed his wildlife conservation campaign and chatted about his new dad status. Then he gave a strong speech at the World Bank conference vowing to work to halt the illegal trade in wildlife.
Meanwhile, Kate stayed in New York, where she charmed adults and kiddies at a child-development center in Harlem, then attended a lunch where British stars in New York were dazzled into speechlessness upon meeting her.
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