William and Kate arrive in U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) – Britain’s Prince William and Princess Kate arrived in New York City on Sunday, the royal couple’s first official visit to the U.S. and their first experience with the Big Apple.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s black Cadillac Escalade pulled up in front of the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan to a throng of media and shrieking admirers, who were kept behind police barricades across Madison Avenue.

Both smiled at the well-wishers with Kate, who is expecting their second child in April, showing off a small bump underneath her maroon coat.

“It’s good to be here,” William told the hotel’s managing director Giovanni Beretta, who was standing outside the entrance to greet the royal couple, who had just spent seven hours on a flight from London.

The Carlyle Hotel was a favourite of William’s mother, the late Princess Diana, during her frequent visits to Manhattan in the 1990s. Other celebrity guests over the years have included Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs, John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.

Earlier Sunday, after arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a British Airways flight, the royals were greeted by Peter Westmacott, British ambassador to the U.S., and his wife; British Consul General Danny Lopez; and Peter Selfridge, U.S. chief of protocol.

William and Kate have a full schedule of events in New York, including a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

William is also scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday while visiting Washington to attend a World Bank conference.