The heir to the British throne, Prince William, and his wife, Princess Catherine, will arrive at Boston Wednesday for a three-day tour. It is their first visit to America in eight years, and the first since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. 

The highlight of their visit is expected to be attending the second annual Earthshot Prize ceremony on Friday, held at the MGM Music Hall. The Earthshot Prize is awarded to five individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to fighting climate change in the last year. Like his father, King Charles III, Prince William has made mitigating climate change a central issue of his royal tenure. 

Before the Friday ceremony, the prince and princess will engage in a number of public events with local leaders and charitable organizations. On Wednesday, the royals, joined by Mayor Michelle Wu, will deliver remarks outside of Boston City Hall, where they will also turn on the city green’s Christmas lights. 

Thursday will be busier for the prince and princess. First, the couple will visit a nonprofit at Chelsea that helps at-risk youth avoid street violence and poverty. They will then visit the climate science incubator Greentown Labs at Somerville, where they will speak with private sector leaders about the market’s role in mitigation of climate change. 

On Friday, Prince William and Princess Kate will part ways early in the day. Prince William will attend a private tour of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Dorchester with the 35th president’s only surviving child, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.

Meanwhile, Princess Kate, as she is popularly known, will visit the the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, where she will meet with researchers and doctors to discuss the importance of childcare and education. 

The royal tour closes with the Earthshot Prize ceremony on Friday evening, where attendees will include environmentalist Sir David Attenborough, singers Billie Eilish and Annie Lennox, and actors Catherine O’Hara and Rami Malek. 

All of this occurs at a time of immense change for the royal family. The passing of Queen Elizabeth II has many questioning what a modern monarchy will look like. Polls suggest that only 62 percent of the British public wants to maintain the monarchy. 

King Charles is not due to be formally crowned until May, and at 75 years old, he is likely to have a short reign when compared to his mother. That leaves Prince William waiting in the wings for what could be a longer tenure. If William were to take the throne in 25 years, he would still be a decade younger than his father is right now. 

The royal visit is meant to signal a new relevance, according to one scholar. “This is a more updated, modernized family that they want to represent,” a scholar of British history, Arianne Chernock, told the New York Times.