Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, began an eight-day US trip with a visit to Manhattan?s Ground Zero and the dedication of the British Memorial Garden to honour victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

After a private tour of the razed site of the World Trade Center?s twin towers, the royals spent 10 minutes of reflection among mementos left to honour those who died at the ?family room,? reserved for relations of victims of the attacks. Sixty-seven Britons were killed in the hijacked airplane attacks that brought the twin towers down, killing 2,749 office workers, rescuers and others.

Hundreds of lunch-hour onlookers applauded when a motorcade delivered the royal couple and New York Gov. George Pataki to Hanover Square, a narrow triangular park nestled among high-rise office buildings in downtown Manhattan.

?This is really exciting,? said Deborah Leigh, a downtown office worker. ?I think it?s great they were able to come here for the dedication. That was awesome.? The prince was making his first official visit to the United States since 1994, when he came with the late Princess Diana.

Charles and Camilla stepped out of a black limousine and greeted the crowd before walking into the memorial garden. After being presented with a bouquet of flowers by a little girl in a tartan dress, they greeted dignitaries and then strolled around the temporary plantings before tugging at either end of a dark green drape to unveil the centre stone, embossed with the crest of the Prince of Wales.

Charles went on to visit the United Nations, where he met Secretary-General Kofi Annan and participated in a discussion promoting jobs for young people as a way to spur global development, an issue he said he had been interested in for the past decade.

Later, the English royalty were to be honoured at a reception at the Museum of Modern Art, where invited guests included Sir Elton John, actors Robert De Niro, Catherine Zeta Jones, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker and comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

<B>Larry FINE</B>