If you think you know where this story is going…trust me, it’s going to surprise you.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were reportedly turned away from a restaurant in Victoria, BC — or were they?
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So, here’s where all of this started.
Meghan and Harry decided to spend their holidays in Canada.
They opted to skip the usual royal holiday traditions while on a six-week break from their normal duties. So they headed to Canada for Christmas and the New Year.
They’ve been staying on the west coast.
More specifically, Vancouver Island (not to be confused with Vancouver, which is not on Vancouver Island — it’s a long story).
The details of their retreat were kept secret out of necessity. However, one restaurant owner and a local paper blew that for them.
Here’s what happened.
Restaurant owner Bev Koffel saw the royal couple out and about in North Saanich, BC.
She talked to a journalist from the Times Colonist about the couple’s security visiting she and her husband’s restaurant.
She spilled every detail of where they’ve been.
“Horth Hill’s become a very popular place now. And they jog around, so they’ve been seen,” she revealed to the paper.
“It’s kind of exciting. I hope everything goes fine for them.”
She wanted good things for them.
“It’s kind of exciting. I hope everything goes fine for them. They’re breaking away from tradition and I just wish them all the best.”
Unfortunately, things have become bumpy, thanks to the story.
Bev revealed she spoke to their security guards.
Apparently, the guards approached their restaurant, called the Deep Cove Chalet, on behalf of the royals.
“They said, ‘How did you figure out who we were?’ And I said, ‘It wasn’t too hard.'”
She claimed her husband, Pierre, took a call from the couple.
They apparently wanted to make a reservation, but turned them down due to the security required.
“Anyhow, you know what Pierre’s like. We’ll see what happens,” she continued, adding that she wished the couple all the best.
Security would be a pretty good reason to turn them down.
Billy Eichner, who met Harry and Meghan at the premiere of The Lion King in 2019, said that he had to follow strict rules when meeting them for the first time.
Speaking to them is a big deal.
For example, the friend that he brought to the premiere was not allowed to speak to them unless spoken to first.
When Billy was introduced to them, he was instructed to refer to them only as “Your Highness.”
She hoped they’d have some privacy.
“Let them have their peace and quiet. For us to be so lucky to have them in the area, how lucky is that?” Bev continued.
“I wish them all the privacy they can possibly get. They deserve it.”
So, here’s the real tea:
None of that happened. At least, according to Pierre.
The security guards did indeed come to the restaurant to research it as a potential option for the royal family’s Christmas dinner, but no one called to make a reservation.
He says he never turned them down.
“They came to have a look and then they left,” he told the Daily Mail .
“I didn’t turn them down. I’ve got no idea where that came from, things take a life of their own.”
He also claimed they were tricked.
According to Pierre, Bev had no idea she was speaking on the record.
“She’s been getting so much grief, she got hijacked by the lovely little journalist from Victoria,” Pierre said. “She didn’t think it was an official interview.”
Now, they’re being harassed.
“We’ve been getting hundreds of emails, tens of phonecalls. Nothing but [expletive], saying what terrible people we are. And we didn’t even meet the people or see them. It just took a life of its own. It [expletive] [expletive] me off.”
Phew!
