In 1773, colonists threw chests full of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of taxes levied by their distant monarch, King George III.
And to be honest, US-British relations have been mostly downhill ever since.
These days, Boston claims the nation’s largest population of Irish-American residents.
In other words, it’s not quite clear why Prince William and Kate Middleton thought it would be a good idea to pay an official royal visit to the city.
Yes, in their first trip since the death of Queen Elizabeth II the Prince and Princess of Wales touched down in Bean Town this week to attend the Earthshot Prize ceremony.
The awards — named for a foundation started by William, with help from David Attenborough — will be handed out to five individuals on the basis of their contribution to environmental research.
Obviously, it’s a noble cause.
But don’t tell that to the crowd at last night’s Boston Celtics game!
According to reports from several attendees, Will and Kate were loudly booed when their faces were shown on the Jumbotron at TD Garden.
Witnesses say a bodyguard quickly stepped in front of the camera to block the Waleses from view, but not before the crowd could erupt in a chant of “USA! USA!”
And it seems the couple couldn’t help but make enemies everywhere they went.
One local politician unleashed a torrent of angry tweets after learning about Will and Kate’s visit.
“Hey, did you know that the royal family is visiting Ward 2 tomorrow? Yeah, me neither until I read it in the press,” wrote City Councilor Jefferson Thomas Scott.
“I didn’t invite these people and was unaware of this visit until you found out too. The City is not handling the Prince and Princess of Wales’ itinerary, so the times of these transits and closures ending is unknown,” he added.
“Also unknown is the number of lookie-loos. I’ve heard no estimates, but it might draw a crowd. (I hope not.),” the official wrote.
Dozens of other Boston-based Twitter users eagerly joined in the pile-on.
“The difference is they can’t floss like #HarryandMeghan it burns #WilliamandKate that they’re not the “beloved” royals they thought they would be,” one commenter wrote.
“They can go home now,” another added.
“What was the Point of Dumping the Tea in the Harbor if you’re just going to invite the Royals to a Celtics game 249 years later…” a third chimed in.
But hey, the visit hasn’t been all bad.
Will and Kate were greeted by hundreds of supporters during an appearance in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and one fan even held up a sign with a British flag and a greeting reading: “Welcome to Chelsea The future King and Queen of England.”
And hey, if nothing else, at least the Waleses managed to distract some attention away from the new trailer for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries!
