Prince William’s Earthshot Prize taking place tonight amid royal racism row – live

US President Joe Biden is set to meet William and Kate in Boston as they visit the US for the first time in eight years.

“The president intends to greet the Prince and Princess of Wales when he is in Boston,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.

The royals’ press team also confirmed that the meeting would occur.

Mr Biden’s schedule indicated that the meeting would take place at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum.

Ms Jean-Pierre said the White House was “still finalizing and working through the details” and didn’t go into further detail about the meeting.

The administration previously announced that Mr Biden would be in the city to attend a Democratic fundraiser.

William and Kate are in the US to attend the Earthshot Prize Ceremony, which gives $1m to projects aiming to solve climate problems by 2030.

“Like President Kennedy, Catherine and I firmly believe that we all have it in ourselves to achieve great things and that human beings have the ability to lead, innovate and problem solve,” William said at Boston City Hall.

Prince William and Kate were praised for their grasp of climate issues by climate expert Joe Christo, who met with the royal couple on Thursday (1 December) during their tour of Boston.

“I’ve lived in Boston for a lot of my life and it was just cold, windy and blustery,” Mr Christo told The Independent. “But Prince William and Princess Kate were hardy, they did a great job. They had a great conversation with us.”

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas are among the stars who will perform at this year’s Earthshot prize.

Alongside the sister-brother duo, performances will come from the likes of Chloe x Halle, Annie Lennox and Ellie Goulding.

Megan Graye has more details.

The Earthshot Prize is awarded to five winners each year for their contributions to environmentalism. It was founded by the Prince of Wales to inspire a new generation of climate innovators.

The first prize was awarded in 2021 and is planned to run annually until 2030.

Each winner receives a grant of £1 million to continue their environmental work.

An estimated 23 million Americans tuned in for the royal wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales, only for them to be booed at a Boston Celtics game. Meredith Clark writes about whether US fascination with the British royal family has come to an end

William and Kate strived today to turn the spotlight back onto the overarching crisis of climate change, and away from the latest round of royal scandals which threatened to engulf their first overseas tour since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Louise Boyle, senior climate correspondent for The Independent, reports on how the royal couple soldiered on with their planned engagements in Boston.

On Thursday, Netflix released a first look at the forthcoming series, Harry & Meghan. This coincided with a race scandal at the Palace and the Prince and Princess of Wales’s first foreign tour since being bestowed with their new titles.

Chelsea Ritschel reports.

The Prince and Princess of Wales’s final afternoon engagement on Thursday involved learning about the significant climate challenges that Boston faces. William and Kate travelled to east Boston to see the changing face of the city’s shoreline as it contends with rising sea levels.

At Piers Park, the royal couple are being shown the past, present, and future of Boston’s waterfront as guests of Mayor Michelle Wu. They are joined by representatives from key environmental organisations including Boston Harbor Now, Stone Living Lab, the Trustees of Reservations, and The Harborkeepers.

Innovative climate resilience solutions are being deployed to protect East Boston, an environmental justice community, from rising sea levels. Members of the community shared their experiences of the neighbourhood’s vulnerability to climate change-caused flooding and storm surges.

One aspect that was highlighted to the prince and princess is how transformative projects along the shoreline can best mitigate the risks of climate change while promoting equity among the diverse residents of east Boston.

Boston Harbor Now’s Stone Living Lab, which researches and tests nature-based ecological restoration solutions around Boston’s waterfront, is announcing an ambitious collaboration with Earthshot 2021 Finalist, Living Seawalls.

The company designs panels that mimic natural habitat formations like rock pools and mangrove roots that can be fitted to new or existing waterfront infrastructure to promote marine biodiversity. Two sites along Boston Harbor will have such panels installed in the coming months.