British royals crown New York visit with lavish dinner

Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate were to crown their whirlwind tour of New York with a gala dinner to honor the university where they fell in love.
The banquet in the opulent surroundings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Hollywood actor Tom Hanks will reportedly make a toast, celebrates the 600th anniversary of the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Yesterday's dinner comes after the royal couple, both 32, braved pouring rain to visit the 9/11 memorial in downtown New York, leaving a bouquet and handwritten note in memory of the victims of the Al-Qaeda attacks.
It was a somber note in an otherwise lightning tour that saw them hobnob with basketball superstar LeBron James, Beyonce and Jay-Z at an NBA game after William met US President Barack Obama on a solo side-trip to Washington.

Their three-day visit -- their first to America's biggest city -- is a mix of diplomacy, supporting their favorite causes and promoting British business.
Second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, William is increasingly taking on more long-haul work for the British monarchy as Queen Elizabeth II approaches her nineties.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who is five months pregnant with her second child, shielded under large black umbrellas while she delicately placed a bouquet of white lilies and roses at one of the 9/11 memorial's two reflecting pools.
The site honors the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 Al-Qaeda strikes on the World Trade Center, and six people who died in a first attack on the Twin Towers in 1993.

The names of every person who died are inscribed into bronze panels that border the pools and built in the footprint of the Twin Towers.
Kate wore a double-breasted cerise wool silk coat fastened with black buttons from British luxury label Mulberry, over her customary thick black tights and a pair of classic black pumps.
She wore her hair pulled back in a sleek pony tail, and finished her look by wearing black gloves and carrying a small black clutch.
William wore a dark suit.