Scobie: Prince William & Kates Boston trip was a complete disaster
Prince William and Kate visited Boston last December and it was a trip to forget. Or rather, William and Kate were so forgettable. Omid Scobie’s Endgame includes a lot of information about the Boston trip within the larger story of “QEII died and the remaining Windsors can’t stop tripping over themselves for two seconds.” As I covered in real time, William was incandescent over the twin crises outside of his control during the Boston trip. The first crisis was the Susan Hussey mess back in England. But then Netflix dropped the first trailer for the Sussexes’ docuseries in the middle of the Keens’ Boston trip, and suddenly William was raging at the royal rota for days. Remember all of the “Sussexes are like the Kardashians” nonsense? Well, here are some (hilarious) highlights of how everything went down in Boston:
The Hussey debacle overshadowed their first days in Boston: “…By the time they landed in Boston, the furor over Lady Susan was at full volume, drowning out much of the hoopla for the event. The couple flew commercial to make a point, but it was lost on a public already outraged by yet another royal race incident. Both former U.S. secretary of state and current Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and the author, diplomat, and member of America’s “royal family” Caroline Kennedy, their chief guests, appeared to tap the brakes on joining the engagement—Kerry cited illness and Kennedy “disrupted travel plans” but in reality, it’s likely they both wanted to see how the scandal played out.
The Celtics game: On the second night, William and Kate attended a Celtics basketball game at TD Garden Arena, where, to their surprise, many fans booed and subjected the royal couple to chants of “USA! USA!” whenever they appeared on the jumbotron. In all fairness, Boston sports fans will boo just about anyone who shows up on their turf, but the latest scandal, along with all the other baggage William and Kate drag around as royals (including their treatment of Harry and Meghan, for one), only made the jeers louder. In fact, there appeared to be little excitement for the royal visit in general…
William’s Super Bowl moment: Despite the promotional efforts and high expectations, the [Earthshot] awards ceremony, by most accounts, didn’t make the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl. There was, however, halftime show entertainment courtesy of another royal couple. The first trailer for the Sussexes’ intimate Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, released that same day (an intentional move by the streamer, I’m told), promising the “full truth” behind the couple’s departure.
The Earthshot Flop: As for the Earthshot ceremony, viewers were less than captivated, to say the least. In the United Kingdom, newspapers claimed the public “switched off” in droves within minutes of the BBC airing it, while the audience watching live in the United States via PBS’s streaming platform fell to the hundreds at times. Despite certain celebrity guests flying in to the “green” event at great expense and using thousands of gallons of jet fuel (Beckham flew on a private jet from Qatar), the environmental award winners themselves were strangely forced to stay at home and appear via Zoom. Rather than buying a new outfit, Kate made a statement by renting her off-the-shoulder gown (a genuinely good idea, but one that has never been repeated at a royal event since). The green carpet the couple walked down at the start of the evening was repurposed from the previous year’s ceremony, but the Palace refused to comment on the fact it was shipped halfway across the world to make the environmentally conscious statement. As for local media coverage, it focused mostly on the cost of the trip for the city ($170,407) and how it would affect traffic.
[From Omid Scobie’s Endgame]
I thank Scobie for his service here – too few people paid attention to the fact that William refused to invite the award-winners and instead persuaded celebrities to fly into Boston (on their private jets) all to hang out with him. I had never heard the detail about the green carpet either – did the palace honestly brief the media about how they used the same carpet, but then they didn’t want to talk about the cost of shipping it over??? Jesus. Anyway, yeah, the Boston trip was hilariously bad and hahahaha at Netflix deliberately timing the trailer drop for that week.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
Boston, MA – Prince William and Kate Middleton are at the Boston government center outside of City Hall in the pouring rain as they visit the USA for the first time since 2014. They stood next to Maura Healy (purple dress) and were introduced by Mayor Wu. Kate shared some laughs with Mayor Wu. Pictured: Prince William, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 30 NOVEMBER 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: Patriot Pics / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit To Boston – Day 1 The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to attend the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** The Prince and Princess of Wales, at Speaker’s Corner outside City Hall, Boston, USA, at the start of the countdown to the Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony by lighting up Boston City Hall and landmarks across the city green. Picture date: Wednesday November 30, 2022. Featuring: Prince William, Catherine, Princess Of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARim/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the Wednesday night National Basketball Association game between the seventeen-time World Champion Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden in downtown Boston, USA. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the Wednesday night National Basketball Association game between the seventeen-time World Champion Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden in downtown Boston, USA. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the Wednesday night National Basketball Association game between the seventeen-time World Champion Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden in downtown Boston, USA. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the Wednesday night National Basketball Association game between the seventeen-time World Champion Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden in downtown Boston, USA. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the Wednesday night National Basketball Association game between the seventeen-time World Champion Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden in downtown Boston, USA. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 30 Nov 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to Roca, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a non-profit organisation focusing on high-risk young people between the ages of 16-24 years old at the centre of urban violence. Picture date: Thursday December 1, 2022. Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales Where: Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States When: 01 Dec 2022 Credit: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Image/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit To Massachusetts – Day 2 The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Greentown Labs in Somerville, to learn about climate innovations which are being incubated in Boston. Featuring: Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 01 Dec 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Fenway Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Prince William Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 02 Dec 2022 Credit: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Image/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Fenway Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Prince William Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States When: 02 Dec 2022 Credit: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Images/INSTAR/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**