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Plush French hotel turns away British royal family

Catherine Edwards
Catherine Edwards - [email protected]
Plush French hotel turns away British royal family
Photo:AFP

Prince William, his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry desperately need somewhere to stay when they come to France this summer after their chosen hotel was forced to turn them away.

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Just because your names are Prince William, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge it doesn't mean you can just stay in any hotel in France you want.

The three royals will be travelling to France for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme on June 30th - but it looks like they might not have a place to stay after having been turned down by their first choice hotel.

The 5-star Hotel Marotte - which is the only hotel in the Amiens area to boast a 5-star rating - had to decline their request for a two night stay, because there's no room at the inn.

A hotel receptionist confirmed the reports to The Local. "Unfortunately it is true," she said. "We have to decline many many people for the 30th June."

It is not clear whether the couple were planning to bring their two children George and Charlotte.

As well as the royals the hotel told The Local they've also had to turn down Barbara Hendricks (she's an American opera singer).

She added that it was a "shame" there had been no room for the royals, explaining: "We don't get royalty here often, though we often get ambassadors and other VIP's."

But no exceptions can be made for Kate and Wills, despite their royal blood. It seems their private secretary was a little slow off the mark, organizing their booking.

The receptionist told us: "We can't kick other guests out. It's the 100th anniversary of the Somme and some people booked two years in advance because it's all concentrated on one day - really the ceremony should have been planned over a week."

The royals had requested four rooms for their entourage, including a suite for William and Kate. The boutique hotel consists of 12 luxurious rooms spread over two buildings, with prices starting at around €175 per night though the priciest suite would set you back €350.

Hotel Marotte. Photo: Screengrab/Google Maps

The royal couple may be regretting leaving their planning so late. A search on Tripadvisor shows that there are no free hotel rooms in the area for June 30th and July 1st.

However there are options on Airbnb (someone needs to set up HeirBnB for royals only) and Amiens does have a municipal campsite with toilets and running water.

A spokeswoman for the royals told The Local: "The accommodation is currently being organized, but all arrangements are completely secret."

She also said they could not say whether the Royal couple were bringing their two kids George and Charlotte.

The couple have had some mixed experiences visiting France.

They have just returned from a ski holiday in the French Alps with both children in tow, which an official Facebook post described as "a very special and fun short holiday", as well as being their first trip abroad as a family, and the young prince and princess's first chance to play in snow.

In 2012 they were left outraged when Kate was photographed sunbathing topless in their private villa in the south of France and the images were published by the French magazine Closer.

The grainy pictures show Catherine, 30, wearing just the bottoms of a black and white bikini and having suncream rubbed on to her behind by William while on holiday in the south of France.

The couple described the breach of their privacy as "grotesque".

 

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