Prince Harry and Duchess Markle have been making quite the impact on Canada’s west coast.
Victoria, British Columbia locals have been delighted by surprise visits from the royal couple.
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Harry and Meghan spent the holidays in Canada.
They currently on a six-week break from their royal duties.
The family skipped out on the traditional royal Christmas celebrations and opted for a quiet Christmas and New Year in British Columbia, Canada.
It all started with a hike.
Iliya Pavlovic and Asymina Kantorowicz decided to take a hike for the new year.
They planned on having a picnic, but wound up with a story that made headlines worldwide.
They were near a group of people.
“We noticed a group was standing nearby and they had two dogs, one of which was approaching us.”
To be clear, she means a person was approaching them, not a dog. That also would have been exciting — just not headline worthy, you know?
They didn’t recognize the Duchess.
“She starts asking if we want her to take a photo for us. We said sure. I didn’t see who she was at that time.”
Can you imagine realizing a Duchess is in front of you?
Another celebrity was with them.
“I thought she looked familiar, but didn’t think it could actually be her,” she said of Abigail Spencer, one of Meghan’s former co-stars on Suits .
This couple won the celebrity lottery.
They did what all of us would have done.
“I froze up. I actually couldn’t believe who it was. Then I looked over to the side and that’s when I realized Prince Harry was standing there,” Asymina said.
I would have also frozen, tbh.
Real life is never this cool.
“I kept looking back and forth like, ‘Is this actually happening?'”
I did the same thing when I met Carrie Fisher, except I said nothing and was screaming internally.
Hm. Maybe not the same thing?
She even managed to crack a joke.
“In that moment the only thing I could think to say, ‘There’s only so much that selfie sticks can do.'”
Honestly, that’s so much better than anything most people would have come up with. And it was funny!
Meghan rolled with it.
“She laughed and responded with something like, ‘We’ll have to do better,’ and then Harry said, ‘No pressure.'”
First of all, the royal couple sounds so cute. Second of all, can you imagine posing for that picture? I’d be shaking.
They snapped the pic and went on their way.
“She handed the phone back and said, ‘Happy New Year!’ and we said, ‘Thanks and happy New Year!'”
This is such a wholesome story to start the new year off with.
Asymina and Iliya were in shock.
“Then we kind of turned to each other laughed and said, ‘Did that just happen?’ I still can’t believe it. It feels like a dream.”
They continued with their hike, but with a cool new story to tell their friends.
They wanted to be chill around the royal couple, though.
“We didn’t want to make a big deal of it. We hope they’re enjoying their family trip to the island,” she said, joining a number of West Coast Canadians who have spotted the royal couple.
This is the second headline to come out of Harry and Meghan’s trip.
As we covered last week, an unfortunate mixup resulted in a false story being reported worldwide regarding the Prince and Duchess being “turned away” at a Canadian restaurant for Christmas dinner.
It was initially reported that they were rejected.
According to Bev Koffel, a restaurant owner in North Saanich, BC, Harry and Meghan called the Deep Cove Chalet as a potential spot for their Christmas dinner.
She said her husband, Pierre, turned them away over their security requirements.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Pierre later clarified that he took no such call from the royals, nor turned them away.
Two security guards of theirs visited the restaurant, but only to see it. They never inquired about a reservation.
Just another day with the royal family, huh?
