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Harlem Welcomes Kate Middleton as Britain's Royals Tour New York

By  Gustavo Solis and Sybile Penhirin | December 8, 2014 1:51pm 

  Kate Middleton visits the   Northside Center for Child Development on East  110th Street and Madison Avenue Monday morning.
Kate Middleton Visits Harlem
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EAST HARLEM — The Duchess of Cambridge came to East Harlem.

Dozens of Anglophiles gathered in the bitter morning cold across the street from Northside Center for Child Development to catch a glimpse of Kate Middleton, who visited Monday morning.

“It’s good that she’s in Harlem,” said Marya Lindemann, 50, who dropped off her son at a nearby elementary school earlier.

“I would expect her to be at a private school downtown but she came here instead.”

The last time a member of the British royal family visited Harlem was in 2013 when MIddleton's brother-in-law Prince Harry visited Harlem RBI. And before that, in 2007, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited the Harlem Children's Zone's Children's Academy.

Folks in the crowd brought signs decorated with the Union Jack and had messages like “Welcome to New York.” Some also brought baby clothes for Middleton, who is pregnant with her second child.

An ambulance followed Middleton’s caravan when she showed up to the center about 11 a.m.

“She’s so beautiful,” said Lauren Nichols, 16, who came to New York from Ohio just to see the Duchess. “I’m missing school for this. Last summer we saw her in London.”

While many spectators were excited by the spectacle, some locals had more important things to do.

“I’m not going to drop everything just because someone is visiting,” said Mary Mack, who lives next door to the center. “I have other things to do. She should’ve come on a warmer day. It’s too cold to be out here waiting.”

Middleton will join her husband Prince William at the Barclays Center Monday night to watch the Nets take on the Cleveland Cavilers.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will later attend a first reception at the NeueHouse, near Madison Square Park, celebrating British talents based in New York.

On Tuesday, Prince William is then set to join Mayor de Blasio at another reception, this time tech-oriented, at the Empire State Building. Both men will visit the observation deck on the 86th Floor and present the winners of the Great Tech awards with trophies.