It Costs £64,000 To Have Dinner With Kate And William

Turns out the Kate and Wills effect doesn’t just drive us Brits crazy.

Wealthy Americans are lining up for fork out a whopping £64,000 to have dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their upcoming visit to New York.

William and Kate are hopping across the pond for a three-day mini tour in December, which will culminate in a fundraising dinner at the world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

To be in with a chance of meeting the royal couple, guests have to buy a table for 10 people at a cost of £64,000 with the money going towards their old alma mater, St. Andrews University.

Just spare change really, ain’t it?

The fundraiser is part of the celebrations around the college’s 600th anniversary and it’s where Kate and Wills met as undergrads back in 2002.

Around 450 guests are expected to attend the benefit dinner, including Mary-Kate Olsen and her French fiancé Olivier Sarkozy.

The Duke and Duchess’ brief tour will kick off with an official dinner with the American Friends of the Royal Foundation in New York before William heads down to the capital Washington D.C.

Kate is expected to remain in NYC to visit a school for disadvantaged children.

Alas, the couple are not bringing baby Prince George along so any hopes we had of seeing the youngest royal at the Statue of Liberty have been sorely dashed.

Gutted.

The US trip comes not long after it was announced that the royal couple have been invited to visit China in early 2015.

As Kate is due to give birth in April next year, she may be unable to go so chances are William will be flying solo on the trip.

It’s thought that the trip will be a chance to improve relations between the UK and China, which had become strained after William’s father Prince Charles and David Cameron both met with the Dalai Lama in 2012.

So no pressure then Wills.

This will be Kate’s first overseas trip since announcing her second pregnancy back in September.

The Duchess had to cancel a trip to Malta, which was to be her first solo royal visit, when she was struck down with hyperemesis gravidarum in the early stages of her pregnancy.

It was the same acute morning sickness that she suffered from when she was expecting Prince George and unfortunately meant she had to miss the royal visit.

But she was back on the mend by October and has since been spotted out looking the picture of health and reminding us all how on point her maternity fashion game is.

She’s been sticking to her favourite labels during her second pregnancy with gorgeous Alexander McQueen, Temperley London and Jenny Packham outfits.

We even got a glimpse of her teeny baby bump when she wore a stunning black lace Diane Von Furstenberg dress to the Royal Variety Performance a couple of weeks ago.

And the ‘Kate Middleton effect’ doesn’t seem to be wearing off any time soon.

When the Duchess stepped out in a sheer and polka dot peplum top from Hobbs last week not only did the original sell out but a copycat version from Very.co.uk sold out in a matter of hours.

[How To Steal Kate Middleton's Style For Less]

[When Kate Met Harry (Styles)]