When royals take a bite out of the Big Apple – best nostalgic photos from New York

Prince William and Catherine, who was pregnant with Princess Charlotte at the time, made their first joint trip to NYC in December 2014. The couple posed for a photo after arriving at The Carlyle in New York's Upper East Side.

While in town, the royal couple sat courtside at an NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Barclays Center.

"To hear that they're coming to town to see me play and they want to see me do what I do best, it's a huge honor," then-Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James said. "You read about people like them only in books growing up."

In addition to meeting LeBron James that night at the game, William and Catherine met music royalty, Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The couple's 2014 trip also included a visit to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

During their visit, William and Catherine, who met as students at the University of St Andrews, attended a dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate the 600th anniversary of their alma mater.

Queen Elizabeth visited New York on more than one occasion during her reign. The late monarch and Prince Philip are pictured here at the Commonwealth Ball in October 1957.

Princess Diana and Mother Teresa seen here holding hands in the Bronx in 1997.

Diana attended her first and only Met Gala in 1996. The Princess hit the iconic steps of New York's Met wearing a dress by John Galliano. 

Diana, of course, isn't the only royal who has attended fashion's biggest night. Princess Beatrice wore an Alberta Ferretti gown to the 2018 Met Gala.

Queen Rania of Jordan stunned in a Valentino design at the 2016 Met Gala in New York City.

Prince Albert of Monaco's niece Charlotte Casiraghi has attended the Met Gala multiple times. Pictured above at the star-studded event in 2023, wearing a chic black lace number.

Princess Eugenie, pictured in the Moet & Chandon Suite at the 2014 US Open, has previously lived in New York. Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter moved to the city in 2013, after accepting a job at the online auction house Paddle8.

Eugenie, her future husband Jack Brooksbank and Ellie Goulding took in a Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks game together at Madison Square Garden in 2017.

Princess Beatrice, pictured out in Soho in 2017, also briefly lived in New York. A spokesperson for her mother, Sarah Ferguson, confirmed the Princess' move to HELLO! in 2015.

Beatrice posed for a photo with model Karlie Kloss at the 2018 Berggruen Prize Gala held at the New York Public Library.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her husband Christopher O'Neill, pictured in Central Park in 2013, met in New York City through mutual friends.

Madeleine and Chris' first child, daughter Princess Leonore, was born at NewYork-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center in 2014. The proud dad showed off his baby girl's footprint on his arm following her birth.

Princess Madeleine returned to NYC with all three of her and Chris' kids, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas and Princess Adrienne, in 2023. Alongside a picture taken in Central Park, the Swedish royal wrote: "9 years later Leonore is back in NYC!"

Before graduating from New York University in 2019, Princess Olympia of Greece (pictured at a Met Gala party in 2016) studied at New York City's Parsons School of Design. In 2016, she opened up to HELLO! about her first year of college, sharing, "It was fun. I had a really great freshman year."

At the time, her family was preparing to move back to NYC. Olympia told HELLO!: "They're moving back to New York," adding, "I'm really excited. I’m just so close to my family and my brothers – Princes Constantine, Achileas-Andreas, Odysseas-Kimon and Aristidis-Stavros – so I’m really excited to have them back."

Olympia is the eldest child of Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, pictured here arriving at New York's Lincoln Center in 1999.

Pavlos and Marie-Chantal attended the 2022 Prince's Trust Gala at Cipriani 25 Broadway in 2022 in New York. Two years earlier, the Crown Princess described her life in New York to HELLO! as "her adventure chapter." She said: "I feel full of life and excitement here."

​In Brooklyn, the Prince of Wales waded into the water with the Billion Oyster Project during a visit to NYC in 2023.​

In 2009, then-Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain toured the New York Public Library.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Queen Rania of Jordan were both at the 2016 Global Goals Awards dinner held at Gustavino's in New York. 

Meghan Markle traveled to NYC in February 2019 for her baby shower held at The Mark Hotel. During her trip, the then-pregnant Duchess was spotted out with her pal Abigail Spencer on the Upper East Side.

Months after giving birth to her son Prince Archie, the Duchess of Sussex returned to NYC to cheer on her friend Serena Williams in the US Open final.

Prince Harry got his scare on with Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon in 2024 during a visit to the spooky maze "Tonightmares" at Rockefeller Center.

Meghan and Harry, both sporting a red poppy, made a red carpet appearance at the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala, which took place at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.

During their 2026 state visit to the United States, King Charles and Queen Camilla traveled to New York City. While in Manhattan, the couple, accompanied by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, paid their respects at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

The Queen of NYC aka Sarah Jessica Parker and Queen Camilla attended a literacy event at the New York Public Library in 2026. The Sex and the City actress described the Queen's visit as "great for all New Yorkers." Sarah said: "I think anytime we have an opportunity to talk about our libraries and talk about literacy… I'm thrilled that we get to be in this extraordinary building… and highlight this extraordinary repository for these documents."