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BOSTON (WHDH) - The Prince and Princess of Wales are in Massachusetts after flying in to Logan International Airport Wednesday afternoon.
William and Kate flew commercial when they arrived at Logan just after 2 p.m,. with a motorcade of state and local police on standby.
Departing the tarmac at 2:30 p.m., the royals were expected at Boston City Hall where thousands of people are expected to attend a welcome ceremony around 4 p.m., an opportunity officials are calling the public’s best chance for seeing them.
Posted to social media after they touched down, the royal couple’s official account released a statement from Prince William, saying the two were “delighted to be back in the United States” and “extremely grateful to Governor (Charlie) Baker and The First Lady of Massachusetts for their warm welcome into Boston.”
“To the people of Boston, thank you,” William said. “I’m so grateful to you for allowing us to host the second year of The Earthshot Prize in your great city. Catherine and I can’t wait to meet many of you in the days ahead.”
For those sharing the flight with royalty, passengers told 7NEWS they were pleasantly surprised, though they did get the impression something was up when they saw the added security and delay when boarding at Heathrow in London.
First to board the plane, the royals initially sat in the plane’s front behind a closed curtain before coming out to greet some of their fellow passengers.
“They were just pleasant, asking what (our) purpose was in London, which is where we flew out of, Heathrow, and then where (our) end destinations were,” said Brent Suttles, who snapped some photos of William and Kate while onboard.
“(William’s) a lot slimmer – oh God, can I say that?” said Jo Atkins, another passenger who arrived at Logan with the royals. “Yeah, very slight. (Kate’s) beautiful, obviously, as one would expect. But yeah, wasn’t expecting that today when I got on my plane.”
“You know, they’re so well-known and famous, that it’s always nice when you have an opportunity to be with people like that,” said another passenger.
The Prince and Princess of Wales were slated to be welcomed by Mayor Michelle Wu, Governor-elect Maura Healey, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy.
William and Kate are making the trip to announce the winners of the Earthshot Prize at a ceremony at MGM Music Hall in Fenway on Friday. To celebrate this week’s climate focus, several city buildings including the Government Center T Station were lit green ahead of the royal visit.
Just before 3 p.m., the royals could be seen arriving at their Boston hotel, traveling in the back of an electric Range Rover with Princess Catherine waving as their vehicle headed into a garage.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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Watch the moment the British Airways flight carrying the Prince and Princess of Wales landed at Logan International Airport:
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