The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall headed straight to Ground Zero in Manhattan after they stepped onto US soil on their first foreign visit together.

The chartered plane carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, and their 16-strong entourage, touched down in fine weather at New York's JFK airport, after leaving RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire at 9am.

Camilla, who has been trying to project a more glamorous image, was wearing a red Italian wool crepe jacket and dress, with velvet chiffon trim by designer Roy Allen.

At Ground Zero, their first ever official duty on foreign soil, they were met by New York Governor George Pataki, British Consul General Sir Phillip Thomas and Kenneth Ringler, Executive Director of the Port Authority which owns the World Trade Centre site.

They paid an emotional visit to the Family Room, a small room set aside for the relatives of those killed and open to them 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The walls are plastered in personal mementos, photographs, birthday cards and tributes from military services around the world. A model of the twin towers is enshrined under a white arch topped with a dove. There are seats inside for the bereaved to sit and grieve and several windows overlooking the site.

“For so many this is their graveyard,” a Port Authority spokesperson said.

Charles and Camilla appeared relaxed as they studied various mementos adorning a memorial outside. The Duchess was shown a British Transport Police badge which sat among scores of insignias and flags in tribute. Flying high above the memorial against brilliant blue skies was a Union Jack flag recovered from the rubble. Charles and Camilla were shown a framed picture of when the flag was last flown, on July 10, the day Britain remembered the victims of the London bombings with a moment of silence.

At the British Memorial Garden, less than a mile away, the couple were given a tour of the garden and unveiled a dedication stone in memory of the British victims of September 11th.

The two were greeted by dozens of well-wishers, some of whom waved Union flags and cheered. The couple also paused briefly to talk to some of the specially-invited family members of those killed in the terrorist attack.

The Duchess also accepted flowers from five-year-old New Yorker Katherine Beaumont.

The inscription on memorial stone - made of Morayshire stone - reads: “This stone was laid on 1 November 2005 by the patron of this garden, the Prince of Wales.” The stone also bears the Prince’s crest where they will unveil a stone dedicated to the 67 Britons killed when hijacked jets crashed into the twin towers.

They will later meet United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and attend a reception at the Museum of Modern Art.