William and Kate Stayed At Diana's kegemaran NYC Hotel During Their First Visit To The City 

Prince William & Kate Middleton Stayed at Princess Diana\'s Favorite Hotel on First Trip to NYC

Prince William and Kate Middleton made a special hotel reservation for their very first visit to New York City.

, hotel staff and royal experts recall the couple’s inaugural visit to the Big Apple in 2014, where they stayed at the Duke’s late mother’s favorite hotel.

“The duke and duchess I think definitely stayed here at the Carlyle because Princess Diana used to stay here and she was very fond of this hotel,” said Jennifer Cooke, Director of Communications at The Carlyle.

“I know that they had heard about it,” she continued. “I heard him say that in the lobby that he had heard so much about this hotel through the years and they were really happy to be here.”

Piers Morgan, who was among the reporters on hand at the hotel that day, said, “I saw them arriving and it was an amazing moment because New Yorkers, in particular, tend to be very sanguine about the royals until they’re actually near them, and then like everybody else in the world they go completely bonkers.”

Want to keep up on the latest from PEOPLE? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get our best stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.

Prince William and Middleton, who was 5 months pregnant with Princess Charlotte at the time, stayed in New York City for three days. The trip marked one of the couple’s first international outings since the birth of Prince George, who was 16 months old at the time. 

During their stay, they visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, watched a Brooklyn Nets game (where they met JAY Z and Beyoncé) and attended a reception at the British Consul General’s Residence alongside Hillary Clinton. They also made appearances at a reception for N.Y.C. Mayor Bill de Blasio held in the Empire State Building and a black tie fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in honor of the University of St Andrews. 

takes audiences inside the walls of the famous hotel, and explores its untold stories and secrets. In the works for more than three years, the film features interviews with famous return guests like George Clooney, Anjelica Huston, Tommy Lee Jones, Vera Wang, Anthony Bourdain, Roger Federer, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Jon Hamm, Lenny Kravitz, Naomi Campbell and many more.

The upcoming documentary hits theaters in early 2018.

Subscribe to the daily newsletter for the latest celebrity news.