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President Joe Biden made a short stop on his trip to Boston to greet William, Prince of Wales, who was wrapping up a three-day trip to the U.S. with his wife Kate, Princess of Wales.
The two men met outside the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on a cold but clear Friday afternoon to shake hands, greeting each other before chatting and walking side-by-side toward the building.
“What a spectacular setting,” the prince said as he approached Biden, who was standing in front of Boston Harbor.
“Good to see you,” Biden told Prince William.
William, now heir apparent to the British throne, was visiting the library Friday afternoon as he reached the end of a trip focused on the environment.
The prince is drawing praise for his efforts to draw attention to pollution and climate change and the need to scale up solutions to address them. Those efforts will culminate Friday evening, when the five winners of the royal couple's Earthshot Prize for environmental innovators will be announced.
The Earthshot Prize offers $1.2 million in prize money to each of the winners of five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change. The winners and all 15 finalists also receive help in expanding their projects to meet global demand.
The winners will be announced at Boston’s MGM Music Hall as part of a glitzy show headlined by Billie Eilish, Annie Lennox, Ellie Goulding, and Chloe x Halle. The show will also feature videos narrated by naturalist David Attenborough and actor Cate Blanchett.
The couple’s first trip to the U.S. since 2014 is part of the royal family’s efforts to change its international image. After Elizabeth’s death, Charles has made clear that his will be a slimmed-down monarchy, with less pomp and ceremony than its predecessors.
William is following in the footsteps of his environmentally minded grandfather Prince Philip — the late husband of Queen Elizabeth II — and more recently his father and Elizabeth's successor, King Charles III.
But now that he is king, Charles is expected to be more careful with his words and must stay out of politics and government policy, in accordance with the traditions of Britain’s constitutional monarchy. This year, he did not attend the U.N. climate conference in Egypt.
After attending a welcome event Wednesday at City Hall and then a Boston Celtics game, the royal couple spent much of Thursday hearing about the threats of climate change and solutions in the works.
They got a firsthand look at some innovations at a green technology startup incubator called Greentown Labs, in Somerville. Among them were solar-powered autonomous boats and low-carbon cement.
“Climate change is a global problem, so it's so important to have global leaders talking about the importance of taking action,” said Lara Cottingham, vice president of strategy policy and climate impact for Greentown Labs.
William and Kate also chatted with Katherine Dafforn, co-founder of Living Seawalls, an Australian company that designs environmentally friendly ocean infrastructure. “For all of us, time is ticking,” William said.
After visiting a nonprofit that helps young people stay out of jail and away from violence, they spent time along Boston Harbor. There, they heard about its history and how the shoreline is changing because of climate change.