Prince William and Kate arrive in New York for three-day US visit

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in New York City, at the start of a three-day US east coast visit.

The royal couple – and a seven-strong entourage which includes adviser and former ambassador to the US Sir David Manning and Kate’s hairdresser, Amanda Cook Tucker, whose services, it has been stressed, are being paid for privately – touched down at JFK International airport on Sunday evening.

The plane was 40 minutes late, but the couple were nonetheless escorted by motorcade through New York’s infamously bad airport-to-city traffic and to the Carlyle hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The hotel, renowned for its old-fashioned opulence and glamorous clientele – it hosts Woody Allen’sMonday night Dixieland jazz residency – was one of Princess Diana’s favourite places to stay.

Crowds of expectant New Yorkers and tourists were kept well away as the motorcade swept in. William and Kate, who are travelling without their 16-month-old son, Prince George, were reported to be due to spend Sunday evening at a private dinner hosted by Sir Martin Sorrell, a British media and marketing mogul.

Wearing a maroon coat from maternity brand Seraphine in chilly 2C temperatures, Kate, who is five months pregnant with her second child, looked refreshed despite her long flight. She and William, both 32, were taken to their room – a suite with stunning views of Central Park. The hotel flew the union flag; the Empire State Building was lit up red white and blue.

The three-day east coast trip includes the couple’s first visit to New York City, and the Duke’s first trip to the nation’s capital. They previously visited the US in 2011, when they made a brief stop in California at the end of a Canada tour.

The trip is packed with diplomatic engagements as well as commitments supporting the couple’s favorite causes and promoting British interests. The schedule includes a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  More