NOT since four mop-headed Scousers touched down at John F Kennedy International Airport in February 1964 has America been so excited about the arrival of anyone from the British Isles.

Back in the Swinging Sixties, pop royalty The Beatles stirred the East Coast into a larynx-blistering frenzy.

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Fast forward five decades and it's the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who have the laid-back West Coast glitterati buzzing with anticipation.
California might not be renowned for its regal connections but scratch the surface and there's a rich royal heritage just waiting to be explored.

PALATIAL PAD

Rather than the historic Hancock Park residence of the British Consul-General in Los Angeles the couple could experience the posthumous stardust of Hollywood royalty at The Charlie hotel (dialling from the UK: 001 323 988 9000/ www.thecharliehotel.com). Hidden from the paparazzi's prying lenses by its lush gardens and cascading fountains, this lovingly restored collection of English-style cottages has been home to various Tinseltown stars including Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe.

Both screen legends lived here for prolonged periods, as did Marlene Dietrich, Rudolph Valentino and more recently Liv Tyler and Rob Lowe.

The hotel is just a romantic stroll from LA's iconic Santa Monica Boulevard which offers direct access into and out of the city. A one-night stay in one of its 13 English bungalow hideaways costs from ?82 (two sharing), self-catering.

FAIRYTALE RETREAT B
ereft of genuine royal residences, the closest thing William and Kate will find to the pomp and grandeur of Buckingham Palace in California is Hearst Castle, a four-hour drive north of Los Angeles.
Built over 28 years from its inception in 1919 the castle is the extravagant mansion of legendary US newspaper magnate and statesman William Randolph Hearst.
With its 165 rooms, Versailles tapestries and 250,000 acres of land, the estate once housed a 100-species zoo including giraffes and tigers. The castle is a shrine to a no-expense-spared fantasy and played host to North America's and Europe's highest society from the Thirties to Fifties.

Overnight stays are strictly forbidden with the recent exception of a California couple who paid £17,000 to charity for one night there. My tour guide said:
"We might make an exception for William and Kate as we Americans loved their wedding so much."

A ROYAL ROUND
Maintaining permanent grins and shaking dignitaries' hands can be thirsty work for the most enthusiastic royals so for liquid refreshment with a regal twist the hard-working couple should bypass Beverly Hills' more ostentatious watering holes and head west to Santa Monica.

There they can enjoy a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale and a game of darts in the unashamedly Anglophile Ye Olde King's Head Pub, a haunt of LA Galaxy football club aristocrat David Beckham.

There are pictures aplenty here of Kate's late mother-in-law Princess Diana emblazoned on the pub's Union Flag-clad walls and the Aston Villa scarf above the bar will doubtless please William as he tucks into his mini Brit burger.

For fine Californian wine, the obvious destination is the beautiful coastal town of Windsor above the rolling Sonoma Valley, home to some of the oldest names in the area's winemaking industry.

BREATHLESS EXCITEMENT
The highlight of the tour for LA's female royal-watchers will undoubtedly be William's jodhpur-clad appearance at the swanky Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club.
Recently overshadowed by her triathlon-loving sister Pippa Middleton in the athletic stakes, sporty Kate might fancy demonstrating her kayaking prowess on the Russian River where she will be able to hone the skills she showed in training for the 2007 cross-Channel dragon boat challenge.

Alternatively the couple could head south past the bohemian loafers' paradise of Venice Beach to Marina del Rey for an afternoon's amble around southern California's largest recreational dock where perhaps a more energetic attempt at his and hers stand-up paddle boarding may be to their taste.

FAMILY FORTUNES
Relatively frugal the Duke and Duchess may be (they are taking fewer than 10 staff with them on their fortnight away) but William and Kate will no doubt enjoy the historic splendour of the Long Beachdocked ocean liner-turned-hotel The Queen Mary. William's great-grandmother the Queen Mother, not to mention Winston Churchill and actor and dancer Fred Astaire, once enjoyed a gin and tonic or three.

Should William be struggling for a late-wedding present for his duchess he need look no further than the perfectly named Middleton Island nestling in the California Delta 60 miles east of San Francisco in San Joaquin County.

Admittedly the ?.9million price tag for the one-acre island covered in palm trees and weeping willows and with its own harbour and golf course might not sit too comfortably with his loyal subjects' current austerity measures.

But it would surely make an idyllic transatlantic holiday home should the lovebirds choose to take their future vacations from their home in Anglesey across the pond.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
Travelbag (0871 703 4240/www.travelbag.co.uk) offers five nights at the four-star Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica from £999pp (two sharing), room only. Price includes return flights with Air New Zealand (0800 028 4149/www.airnewzealand.co.uk) for departures October 24 to December 16, 2011. Rhino Car Hire (0845 508 9845/www.rhinocarhire.com) offers daily car hire from £17. California Tourism: 0207 257 6180/www.visitcalifornia.co.uk