Prince William and Kate take blustery stroll along shoreline of Boston Harbour

The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting Boston, Massachusetts, as the future King is set to announce the latest winners of the Earthshot prize for environmental ingenuity.

02:33, Fri, Dec 2, 2022 | UPDATED: 02:34, Fri, Dec 2, 2022

Prince William discusses The Earthshot Prize in Boston

Prince William and Kate Middleton visited Boston Harbour on Thursday to see the changing face of the shoreline as the US east coast city battles with rising sea levels. The royal couple were joined by Reverend Mariama White-Hammond in the biting cold, the day after he had given a speech at the Earthshot launch about the legacy of "colonialism and racism".

It was so cold that the Duke of Cambridge apologised for keeping his hands buried in his jacket pockets when speaking to local residents.

He said: "I don't want to be rude. I'm keeping them in my pockets.

"When I can feel them again it will be better."

Boston

The Prince and Princess of Wales at Boston Harbour on Thursday (Image: Getty Images )

Boston

Mayor Michelle Wu and Reverend Mariama White-Hammond speak with the royals during the visit (Image: Getty Images )

When they arrived at Piers Park the royal couple were greeted by Boston city mayor, Michelle Wu and Lisa Wieland, CEO of Massport who maintains the park.

Walking along the pier, the Waleses were greeted by three groups of local residents who explained the the regeneration of the pier and the surrounding park to them.

They also discussed the different challenges raised by rising sea levels and the plans to mitigate the impact.

Speaking after the event Kathy Abbott, CEO of Boston Harbor Now said that the Prince had turned down her offer of a hand warmer but that the American public were "incredibly excited" by the royal visit.

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The Cambridges greet locals during the visit (Image: Getty Images )

Boston

The visit was designed to show the couple how the harbour is dealing with rising sea levels (Image: Getty Images )

She said: "'I offered him my hand warmer. He said no thank you.

"Everybody that I've talked to is incredibly excited that they're here."

The Cambridges also met Vidya Tikku, trustees of the Reservations, Carole Charnow of Boston Children's Museum and Lisa Wieland of MassPort.

Ms Charnow told the couple about the plans to protect the museum.

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The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting Boston Harbour to see the changing face of the shoreline as the city contends with rising sea levels. The Princess is in Gabriella Hearst knitwear, McQueen coat and Daniella Draper earrings pic.twitter.com/DZZniNLzq7
— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) December 1, 2022

Elizabeth Solomon, from the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, who is also an Earthshot host committee member, said she had spoken to the Waleses about developing a relationship between the tribe the Royal Family and the British people.

It has been a difficult start to the trip for the royals as it has been overshadowed by a furious race row after Lady Susan Hussey, a former lady in waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II, was accused of making racist comments to domestic abuse campaigner Ngozi Fulani at a Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday evening.