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Monarchy from the UK: Our guide to Brooklyn for Prince William and Kate

Monarchy from the UK: Our guide to Brooklyn for Prince William and Kate
Associated Press / Anthony Devlin

The British are coming!

Prince William and Kate Middleton, the duke and duchess of Cambridge, are headed for Brooklyn next week. The trip will be the royal couple’s first to the borough, part of a three-day New York visit, and while here they plan to catch a Dec. 8 Nets game against LeBron “King” James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.

The planned Williamsburg Whole Foods is like an allegory for Kate Middleton's life, if you really think about it.
Meridian Capital Group

Not much is public about the posh pair’s plans for the day, but we have some suggestions to round out what is sure to be an exciting stopover for the world’s most famous welfare recipients.

The Chip Shop

The grub at this English pub might be a bit common for the monarchs-to-be — true to the name, fish and chips are the signature item, alongside bangers and mash and shepherd’s pie — but slumming it has a proud tradition among top-hat-wearers for whom polo is a reasonable sport and not a brand of clothing. And with two locations a short carriage-ride from the Barclays Center, it’s an ultra-convenient option. Besides, where else in Brooklyn can a homesick Brit find a treacle pudding with custard?

Cheers: Chip Shop owner Chris Sell celebrated Prince William and Kate Middleton's marriage at his Atlantic Avenue location back in 2011.
Photo by Tom Callan

The Chip Shop [129 Atlantic Ave. between Henry and Clinton streets in Brooklyn Heights, and 383 Fifth Ave. at Sixth Street in Park Slope, (718) 855–7775 and (718) 832–7701, www.chips‌hopny‌c.com].

Kings Plaza

If the couple wants to get some shopping in, we think they should point their royal procession towards Kings Plaza in Mill Basin because, you know, kings.

All that remains: Fort Greene residents never forgot the death of 15,000 American patriots aboard British prison ships thanks to the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park.
The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan

Kings Plaza Shopping Center (Avenue U between Flatbush Avenue and E. 55th Street in Mill Basin, www.kings‌plaza‌onlin‌e.com).

New York Chess and Games

Park Slope’s most prominent chess-and-board-game retailer is conveniently located across Flatbush Avenue from the Barclays Center. It is perfectly positioned for the pair to pick up a chess-set memento that, considering all their free time and disposable income, could have them giving the whizzes at Edward R. Murrow a run for their money before you can say “checkmate.” King them!

Flower power: Princess Diana paid a visit to the Brooklyn Academy of Music back in 1989, taking in a performance by the Welsh National Opera.
Associated Press / Susan Ragan

New York Chess and Games [192 Flatbush Ave. at Dean Street in Park Slope, (718) 398–3727, www.newyo‌rkche‌ssand‌games‌hop.com].

Prince Hotel

We imagine the couple has pinned down lodging for their visit, but if something falls through, there is always an affordable room at the nobly named Prince Hotel in Bay Ridge. Neighbors’ complaints of rampant prostitution and drug use may sour our esteemed guests on the idea, but then again, they may not. Remember, these high society types like to see what the lower classes are up to. Unfortunately for these two, the city shuttered Downtown’s Princess Hotel, owned by the same guy and much closer to the Rust Bowl, not long ago after finding code violations and signs of the sex trade.

Chess-mate: Christian Whitted of the New York Chess and Game Shop in Park Slope knows grand mastery when he sees it.
The Brooklyn Paper / Sarah Portlock

The Prince Hotel [315 93rd St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Bay Ridge, (718) 748–8995, www.princ‌ehote‌lgrou‌p.com].

Prison Ship Martyrs Monument

The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park contains the remains of 11,500 American prisoners who died aboard the British Crown’s prison ships, moored in Wallabout Bay during the Revolutionary War. Not that we have hard feelings about the war crimes of more than two centuries ago, but what better way for the duke and duchess to show respect to the borough than to take a moment to acknowledge the blood that watered their family tree? Okay, maybe we’re still a little sore.

Fit for a future king: Kings Plaza, New York City's first mall, is home to an Armani Exchange, perfectly suited for brand-conscious nobles on a budget.
Photo by Steve Solomonson

Williamsburg

The neighborhood’s in-progress transformation from humble, working-class townhouses to shiny, glass-and-metal towers mirrors Middleton’s own Cinderella story. Only this peasant-turned-princess isn’t being forced to look 10 stops further out on the L line for an apartment.

Reach reporter Matthew Perlman at (718) 260–8310. E-mail him at mperl‌man@c‌ngloc‌al.com. Follow him on Twitter @matthewjperlman.