The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited One World Trade Center on Thursday (23.09.21).
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan kicked off their trip to New York by meeting with the city’s mayor Bill de Blasio, his wife Chirlane McCray and their son Dante de Blasio, as well as Governor of New York State Kathy Hochul at the building’s observatory.
The couple arrived at the skyscraper – which was built on the site of the original Twin Towers, which were targeted by terrorists in the 9/11 attacks in 2001 – at around 8.14am in two Range Rovers with blacked out windows and held hands as they walked around to the front of the building.
Harry – who, like his wife, was dressed in black – waved at a group of young women who screamed and shouted out his name.
One woman in her 20s waiting to catch a glimpse of the royals said she’d got up early especially for their visit.
She said: “I think it’s great. I’m a big fan, I went to their wedding in Windsor. They’re doing great things, everything that’s said about them is all misconstrued.”
There was a strong security presence in the area and a group of 15 taxi drivers protesting against the mayor’s alleged lack of support for cabbies were moved by police from the front of the building to a barricade a short distance away.
Richard Chow, 63, a cab driver whose brother Kenny took his own life because of his debts, blasted the mayor and urged Harry and Meghan to speak up on their behalf.
He is quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying: “[The mayor] sold our rights, we lost our investment, we lost everything. We are protesting the mayor because we are under the water and he’s letting us drown. We need the mayor to help the cabbies.
“We’re respectful of the royal family but we need to have them talk to the mayor. He created the crisis, now he has to fix it. We love you Prince Harry, can you help us?”
However, the protesters were silent when Harry and Meghan entered the building.
The couple are in the Big Apple to take part in Global Citizen Live in the city’s Central Park on Saturday (25.09.21), where they will urge world leaders to adopt a vaccine equity policy to help end the coronavirus pandemic.
It is unclear if their two children, Archie, two, and three-month-old Lili, have made the trip or stayed behind in California.