William, Kate begin U.S. visit

NEW YORK - Britain's Prince William and Princess Kate arrived in New York City on Sunday, the royal couple's first official visit to the U.S. and their first experience with the Big Apple.

The duke and duchess of Cambridge's black Cadillac Escalade pulled up in front of the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan to a throng of media and shrieking admirers, who were kept behind police barricades across Madison Avenue.

Both smiled at the well-wishers with Kate, who is expecting their second child in April, showing off a small bump underneath her maroon coat.

"It's good to be here," William told the hotel's managing director Giovanni Beretta, who was standing outside to greet the couple, who had spent seven hours on a flight from London.

The Carlyle Hotel was a favorite of William's mother, the late Princess Diana, during her frequent visits to Manhattan in the 1990s.

Wendy Hahn and her husband, Paul Hahn, began waiting at 1 p.m. for the royal couple's arrival outside the hotel. By the time the duke and duchess arrived, just before 6 p.m., with temperatures dipping into the 30s, the Hahns were ordered by police to stand across the street behind metal barricades.

Earlier Sunday, after arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a British Airways flight, the royals were greeted by Peter Westmacott, British ambassador to the U.S., and his wife; British Consul General Danny Lopez; and Peter Selfridge, U.S. chief of protocol.

William and Kate have a full schedule of events in New York, including a visit to the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum and a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

William is scheduled to meet with President Obama at the White House on Monday while visiting Washington to attend a World Bank conference. At that meeting, he is expected to speak about combating illegal trade in wildlife parks. Kate was scheduled to tour a New York child-development center with the city's first lady, Chirlane McCray.

Their visit will also include events with other high-profile guests. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton are accompanying William and Kate to a reception highlighting conservation efforts.