New York's super rich pay £32k each for dinner with Kate and William

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Attend The Royal Variety Performance

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend a lavish dinner with 15 wealthy couples who are paying $50,000 (£32,000) to dine with the couple during their royal tour of the States, it has been revealed.

Kate and William are travelling to America on Sunday night for their three-day tour, taking in New York and Washington DC.

A source told The Mail on Sunday that the dinner is the start of a campaign which could help some of their favourite charities.

"The dinner on the first night is essentially a fundraiser," the source said. "The people William and Kate will be meeting are not celebrities but seriously wealthy hedge fund types and financiers."

British advertising boss Sir Martin Sorrell and his wife Cristiana are hosting the dinner in New York and the money will go to the Royal Foundation, a charity run by the couple and Prince Harry.

According to Kate and William's official website, they will arrive in New York on Sunday and visit the World Bank in Washington DC, the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem and attend an NBA Basketball game in Brooklyn on Monday. Tuesday will see the couple visit The National September 11 Memorial Museum and join the St. Andrews 600th Anniversary Dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The pair are staying at luxurious The Carlyle hotel, where a night in the Empire Suite costs £9,500.