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| The duchess was given flowers by five-year-old
Katherine Beaumont |
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have begun their US tour by
paying their respects at Ground Zero.
The royal couple then inaugurated the British Memorial Garden for UK
victims of the 11 September attacks.
After meeting families of British victims, Prince Charles said he and
his wife had been moved by what they saw.
The prince is also visiting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the New
York headquarters as part of the American tour.
The royal couple's eight-day stay also includes visits to New Orleans,
Washington and San Francisco.
The trip is Prince Charles' and Camilla's first joint official overseas
tour since they married.
They were met at Ground Zero by New York Governor George Pataki,
British Consul General Sir Phillip Thomas and Kenneth Ringler, the
executive director of the Port Authority, which owns the site.
Hundreds of well-wishers met the royal couple at the British Memorial
Garden where the prince unveiled a dedication stone.
After meeting relatives of some of the British victims near the garden,
Charles said: "Both my wife and I are profoundly moved by what we saw, not
just the scale of the whole outrage but the deeply distressing individual
stories of heroism and loss.
"In the four years that have passed the sorrow is not lessened.
"Our hearts go out to you and also to the families of the New York fire
and police departments who sacrificed their lives."
Talking about the memorial garden, Charles said: "Both our nations have
been united by grief and strengthened by the support we have given each
other."
As a sign of that unity, the Union Jack was flown alongside the World
Trade Center flag for the visit.
And they are expected to meet those affected in the
hurricane-devastated Louisiana on Friday.
In Washington, they will not be staying at the White House.
During their three days in the city, the prince
will also lay a wreath
at a World War II memorial to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the end
of the conflict.
The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles will visit a farmers' market
and lunch at an organic farm in Marin County.
Last week, he also spoke out on climate change, and he will give a
speech at a seminar on environmental issues, while in San Francisco.
BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the trip was a "high profile
visit which will test to the full Camilla's transformation into a senior
member of the British Royal Family".
Bob Colacello, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine in the
US, told the BBC he believed the couple would be well received.
"If they are as effective with crowds as I saw them to be when
following them around London and Yorkshire for a Vanity Fair article, I
think they'll win over the American," he said.
He said Americans were interested in the couple.
"I think here in America people are curious about Charles, and Camilla
especially," he said.
"The curiosity turns to warmth when people actually see them together."
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2005-11-02 09:28
