Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, spent their first evening in the US mingling with celebrities at a glitzy New York reception -- but it was a tour of Ground Zero that seemed to make the deepest impact on the royal couple.
The pair kicked off a weeklong visit designed both to promote trans-Atlantic ties and to glamorize the resolutely middle-aged royals with a celebrity-studded evening gala at the Museum of Modern Art.
Charles told the guests who included Sting and real estate tycoon Donald Trump that he was pleased "to celebrate the long-standing and very special links between our two countries."
PHOTO: AP
To the delight of the guests, the 56-year-old prince referred to Camilla, whom he married in April, as "my darling wife."
It wasn't exactly the frenzy that welcomed Charles 20 years ago on a US tour that saw his radiant wife, the late Princess Diana, dancing with John Travolta at a White House dinner. But it was a start.
Earlier on Tuesday, Charles attended a roundtable with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the UN and appealed to business leaders to help millions of young people find jobs, noting that in the Middle East alone, 100 million jobs will have to be created in the next 20 years just for new entrants to the job market.
"In my view, of the great long-term challenges today, apart from the most urgent need to tackle climate change, is creating meaningful employment for young people," Charles said.
The royal couple's first joint tour to the US moved yesterday to Washington, where Charles and Camilla were scheduled to have an intimate lunch and a lavish dinner with US President George W. Bush and his wife Laura -- the latter a rare honor from the early-to-bed president.
The visit to the White House was to get underway with a traditional show of pomp during a midday South Lawn arrival ceremony.
Afterward, the royal couple was to be treated to an intimate lunch in the Bush's residential quarters, sitting down in the Family Dining Room with about a dozen guests, including both countries' ambassadors, said Susan Whitson, the spokeswoman for Laura Bush.
After a tour of an innovative, inner-city boarding school, the real festivities were to take place in the evening, with the president acquiescing to the kind of late-night, black-tie affair he typically shuns.
About 130 people were expected to dinner in the State Dining Room on the White House's grand main floor. There have been only five formal White House dinners honoring world leaders since Bush took office in January 2001.
Other than to say that "seasonal" food was being served, the menus and the guest list -- as well as Laura Bush's attire -- were remaining closely guarded secrets, Whitson said.
The Bush White House is not known for its love of glitter and celebrity, so the guests were to feature plenty of names from Washington's A-list but few from Hollywood's counterpart.
Some press reports have speculated the prince will use his meeting with Bush to raise the issue of climate change.
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