Wealthy Americans to splash out £64,000 to dine with Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
WEALTHY Americans are set to splash up to £64,000 ($100,000) to dine with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, according to reports.
Prince William and Kate will take part in a fundraising dinner at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, as part of their three-day tour of America.
The event was set up to raise money for St Andrews University in Scotland, where the royal couple met as students in 2002, and will mark the 600th anniversary of the historic establishment.
Tickets for the invitation-only event on December 9 have almost sold out, and Manhattan's wealthiest are now shamelessly battling for the remaining spaces, according to The Sunday Times.
To secure two VIP tickets to the event, and get the chance to dine with royalty, the paper reported that guests need to buy a table for 10 at a staggering cost of $100,000.
There are expected to be 450 guests at the lavish event where a number of items will be auctioned off to raise funds - including a literary tour of Edinburgh with Ian Rankin and an overnight stay at Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is set.
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Famous faces expected to attend the dinner include Olivier Sarkozy, half brother of the former French president, and his fiancee, child star-turned-fashion designer Mary-Kate Olsen.
The evening, which has been organised by Stanislas de Quercize, chief executive of Cartier, will start with a drinks reception in the museum's Great Hall before dinner is served in the Temple of Dendur, an Egyptian monument.
The day before the dinner, Prince William will attend a conference at the World Bank in Washington as part of his campaign to push for stricter rules against the illegal trade of wild animal parts.
While he is doing so, the Duchess will visit a school for disadvantaged children with the wife of New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio.
When they return to Britain, the royal couple will prepare to spend their Christmas at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, which they have recently spent £1.5million refurbishing.
