Duchess Kate cozies up to adorable kiddies in Harlem
NEW YORK — Some kids were a little confused — they thought she was a Disney princess — but Duchess Kate managed to charm them as herself in a visit to Harlem on Monday.
She arrived at a child-development center for her first public engagement around 11 a.m., but if you blinked, you missed her.
When she left, it was an exercise in adorableness, as she took to a greeting line of cute kids, shaking teeny hand after teeny hand and bending down to talk to some face to face.
"They thought she was the princess from Frozen," said a center administrator, Rose Ann Harris, according to the pool report.
"She's so adorable," added Sharon Fraser, the center's assistant director of finance, as she watched Kate do her thing.
The duchess spent a little over an hour at the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem, accompanied by first lady of New York Chirlane McCray.
"She was very warm and wonderful and lovely," said clinic director Jean Holland, who was with her when she met with three children and their families. "They both asked them questions, asked them to tell their stories of their experience at Northside Center."
It's so cold in Harlem today, the five-months-pregnant Kate opted to dash inside the building as soon as her motorcade of black Suburbans pulled up.
She briefly waved and a crowd of fans huddled in the cold across the street let out shrieks and cheers and waved their "We Love You, Kate" signs.
She was wearing a short black coat trimmed with white detail on the sleeves, collar and back, by one of her favorite lines, Goat. She had on black high heels, but no hat. She was dressed similarly when she arrived in New York Sunday night with Prince William.
But the cold didn't stop her from her little meet-and-greet with the children when she left. She also was presented with red roses by two of the children.
Kate has taken to greeting lines with enthusiasm and aplomb since she married Prince William in 2011 and began traveling the world with him.
Kate was hosted in Harlem by McCray, who stood outside herself for a few minutes waiting for the Duchess of Cambridge to arrive.
Childhood development is one of Kate's main charitable interests back home. Northside, which was founded in 1946, serves children ages 2 to 18 with developmental delays in language or motor skills, behavioral issues or are victims of abuse.
Kate was scheduled to spend a little over an hour at the center and, among other activities, took part in gift-wrapping and craft-making exercises with students and volunteers.
For the gift-wrapping, Kate joked that she hoped she got a more manageable "square" present to wrap; she did and proved to be proficient, according to the pool report.
"Perfect," she added at the end. "I think it's quite good, actually."
Juliette Mace, 20, an au pair from France who's been in New York for a year, was one in the crowd waiting for Kate.
"I don't remember Diana but I read a lot about her, and I think Kate is the new Diana," Mace said. "She's the most important of the royals. She's modern, she's beautiful, she's a princess, she's living every girl's dream of marrying a prince."
Kate headed to British Consul Danny Lopez's residence in New York for a lunch celebrating British talent in the Big Apple. Among the guests, according to palace officials: Welsh-born Matthew Rhys of The Americans, and just-arrived from London Deborah Turness, who heads up NBC News.
The lunch menu featured poached salmon and a Sauvignon blanc, which Kate will likely not be drinking.
Meanwhile, Will was in Washington at the White House, where he chatted with President Obama, and then at the World Bank where he is delivering a speech on his passion, combating the illegal trade in wildlife.
"Very important work," Obama said, according to pool reports.
Will told Obama that he got so caught up in the excitement and "chaos" when Prince George was born, he "forgot" to ask if his first child was a boy or a girl.
