Kate and Will are mocked online for their ‘robotic’ and ‘stilted’ appearance at Boston Celtics game

The Prince and Princess of Wales were lightly mocked online for their awkward appearance at a Boston Celtics game Wednesday night as they continue touring the United States amid a series of controversies surrounding the royal family.

Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton sat courtside at the game, where they could be seen chatting with one another, waving at fans and lightly clapping as Jayson Tatum became the youngest player in NBA history to make 900 three-pointers.

The royal couple were met with boos when they were first introduced by a stadium announcer and shown on the big screen, as some in the crowd could be heard chanting ‘USA, USA.’ 

But they tried to keep brave face as they were seen smiling and chatting with Massachusetts Governor-elect Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu — though some online made note of how awkward the princess seemed as she slow clapped for the team.

‘I really do love her, but is this her first time clapping??’ former NBAer Rex Chapman tweeted, while blogger JC said: ‘Good God, this is worse than watching people in church trying to keep a beat clapping for the first time ever.’

Another Twitter said he was ‘Proud of Kate for clapping for what appears to be the first time,’ with a fourth simply posting a GIF of Will Ferrell from Talladega Nights saying: ‘I’m not sure what to do with my hands.’

One other simply compared the royal couple’s appearance Wednesday night to when they attended another basketball game in 2014 and were startled to see themselves on the jumbotron.

Outside, though, the royals were met with crowds of Bostonians eager to catch a glimpse of the celebrity couple as they begin their landmark US tour. 

They had earlier met with members of the ‘Celtics family,’ including representatives of the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation — which provides grassroots programming and funding to local organizations serving at-risk populations.

And around the arena, digital advertising boards were lit up green to promote Prince William’s Earthshot awards, as spectators were treated to a promotional video ahead of the game.

Following the second quarter, when the game was tied 47 all, William and Kate watched as the Celtics recognized Ollie Perrault, a 15-year-old climate activist from Easthampton, Massachusetts, for her work as a leading member of the Youth Climate Leadership Program.

She is now the founder and director of Youth Climate Action Now, committed to fighting for environmental justice, and working to get more young people involved in direct climate action.

Aides had suggested the royal couple would depart after the third quarter of the game, but they decided to stay until the end, shaking hands with fans as they left the stadium.

There is no doubting that William and Kate had hoped the evening’s match – the second in their official list of engagements during their whirlwind three-day trip to Boston – would go off without a hitch, given the awkward moment at the Earthshot launch just hours before the game.

As the Prince and Princess Wales watched on from the wings at the launch event, African-American Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, who founded a youth organization focused on ‘teaching the history of the civil rights movement’, said: ‘On this day, I invite us all to consider the legacy of colonialism and racism.’

She referenced the ‘ways it has impacted people across the world and its connection, its deep connection to the degradation of land and our planet that we are all seeking to reverse. The stories lost, the species made extinct, but also the persistence of people in the face of oppression and the fundamental dignity of all of our relations.’

It came after Lady Susan Hussey, former lady-in-waiting to the Queen and William’s own godmother, was accused of making racist comments to black domestic abuse campaigner Ngozi Fulani at a Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday night.

Although there was no direct reference to Lady Susan, few could fail to connect the controversy with Reverend White-Hammond’s remarks.

Having started her speech by ‘acknowledging the ancestral lands we stand on today’, the Reverend went on to express gratitude to William and Kate for choosing to host this year’s Earthshot Prize in Boston.

‘Now you all know we are a city of many firsts. We are honored to be the first American city and the first city outside of the United Kingdom to host the Earthshot Prize,’ she continued.

Her comments about colonialism came just months after another of William and Kate’s international engagements – a March tour to the Caribbean to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – attracted controversy due to accusations that elements of it smacked of ‘colonialism’.

Then on Thursday, as the Prince and Princess of Wales were set to begin their second day of their highly-anticipated tour, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex dropped the trailer for their bombshell docuseries.

The preview for the series, titled Harry and Meghan, features personal photos of the titular couple flashing across the screen.  They are heard being asked ‘Why did you want to make this documentary?’ to which Harry replies: ‘No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors.’

He adds: ‘I had to do everything I could to protect my family’ before Meghan is seen appearing to wipe away tears.

She adds: ‘When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?’

It also features scenes of William and Kate as the Duke and Duchess tried to navigate their lives together, potentially overshadowing the Prince and Princess’s meeting with President Joe Biden on Friday.