Britain’s royals have come face to face with music royalty in Brooklyn as Prince William and wife Kate joined Jay-Z and Beyonce at a Brooklyn Nets game, sending social media into a frenzy in the process.

William and Kate were attending the game at Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre — Jay-Z’s home turf — when they greeted the hip-hop mogul and his wife during the second half of the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Prince William beamed as he shook hands with the pair in front of a sea of cameras.

Kate was her usual elegant self in a grey coat by US designer Tory Burch, while Beyonce had also gone for a prim ensemble of black skirt and white blouse.

The royal couple chatted to the superstars before returning to their courtside seats next to basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo.

Outside the Barclays Centre, anti-police protesters enraged by the chokehold death of Eric Garner gathered to stage a “die-in” on the fifth night of protests.

Inside, basketball superstars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and several other players wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts as they warmed up for the NBA game.

The players donned the shirts to show their support for the family of Eric Garner, who died on July 17 after a New York police officer placed him in a chokehold when he was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

William and Kate met America’s version of royalty — Jay-Z and Beyonce — during the game.

Prince William and Jay Z shook hands as

The basketball game marks the end of a hectic day in New York for the royal couple, who have had a jam-packed schedule since arriving in the Big Apple.

Before the game, Kate chatted with Hillary Clinton about motherhood during a reception at the British Consul General’s residence.

William and Kate were reunited at the gathering — where they talked with Ms Clinton and her daughter Chelsea — after attending separate engagements during the day.

Earlier, William met with President Barack Obama at the Oval Office, while Kate toured a child development centre in Harlem with New York City’s first lady, Chirlane McCray.

On the first full day of a trip partly devoted to discussing conservation and education issues, Kate visited an organisation that provides afterschool programs, psychotherapy, parent education and other services to about 3300 children and families each year.

Meanwhile, William attended a World Bank conference and discussed illegal wildlife trafficking.

Kate, dressed in a black coat by the British fashion brand Goat, was greeted with cheers from a crowd of several dozen spectators as she stepped out of a black four-wheel drive and shook hands with Ms McCray.

Kate met with children and staffers at the Northside Centre for Child Development, wrapping some presents for the children and leaving the staff with an impression of a down-to-earth duchess, clinical intake coordinator Jennifer Hogan said.

“There are many places she could have picked in New York, and we’re very proud she visited us,” Ms Hogan said. The 68-year-old organisation was co-founded by educator and psychologist Kenneth Clark, whose pioneering study on the effects of racial discrimination was cited in the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision to strike down public school segregation.

After about an hour-long visit, the duchess and the first lady exchanged handshakes with several mothers - and leaned down to shake hands with children - who gathered outside as the two left.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are making their first official visit to the US since a 2011 trip to California and are getting their first taste of the Big Apple.

William also is visiting the nation’s capital for the first time, though he and the president met while Mr Obama was in the United Kingdom. The prince also met briefly Monday with Vice President Joe Biden.

The couple’s schedule is packed with events including a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, a reception highlighting conservation efforts with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton, a visit to showcase arts education at a youth organisation, events celebrating British talent in creative fields in New York, a Cleveland Cavaliers-Brooklyn Nets game and a black-tie, up-to-$10,000-per-seat scholarship fundraiser for the University of St. Andrews.

Throngs of well-wishers awaited the royals, who are expecting their second child in April, as they arrived Sunday evening at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. Some admirers had been waiting for hours, behind police barricades, hoping for a glimpse of them.

The royals are visiting a city where thousands have protested over the past week to decry a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner.

Even Cavaliers star LeBron James said on Sunday that it was “possible” he might wear a shirt saying “I can’t breathe” - a rallying cry that has developed around Garner’s last words - before Monday’s game.

He added that playing with William and Kate in the audience would be “a huge honor.”