If recent reports are to be believed, the royals are getting the full Canadian-politeness treatment on their secret holiday.
Ahead of the holiday season, it was announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — would be spending the holiday season in Canada for baby Archie’s first Christmas, exact location undisclosed.
But a few outlets have since published reports of Harry and Meghan sightings on Vancouver Island. And while a chance encounter with the royals is likely incredibly exciting to residents, in classic Canadian fashion, everyone’s been actually pretty chill about it. Kinda. Because if there’s one thing Canadians love more than royals, it’s talking to the media about how much they respect celebrities’ privacy.
On New Year’s Day, a couple hiking near Horth Hill near Victoria encountered Harry and Meghan alongside some of Meghan’s former “Suits” co-stars. Asymina Kantorowicz told CTV News that she and her boyfriend were taking photos with a selfie stick when a group approached them.
She said she didn’t recognize them at first, but as one woman stepped forward to offer to take their photo, they slowly realized it was Markle.
Internally overwhelmed by reportedly meeting literal royalty, the pair told CTV that Markle was “super friendly” during the encounter. Kantorowicz said they tried to keep their cool and not bombard the royals.
“We didn’t want to make a big deal of it. We hope they’re enjoying their family trip to the island,” she said.
Curiously however, they decided to tell Kantorowicz’s employer, CTV, where she is a producer, which is perhaps the exact opposite of “not making a big deal of it.”
Last week, the royal couple released a super cute new photo of Harry and Archie that seems to have been taken on the West Coast — you can spot B.C.’s characteristic mountains and sea in the background, behind Archie’s adorably pom-pommed head.
Victoria newspaper the Times-Colonist posited the photo was snapped in North Saanich, not far from the provincial capital. Rumours have swirled as to exactly where the royals were staying in and around the Victoria area, but many others claim to have spotted Harry and Meghan running or hiking in the Horth Hill.
There is, to date, no photo proof of the couple’s whereabouts other than their Instagram post.
But locals seem more than happy to report that they’re happy leave the couple be, wherever they actually are. One restaurant even turned down a dinner reservation request by the Sussexes, due to security concerns.
“Let them have their peace and quiet. For us to be so lucky to have them in the area, how lucky is that?” Bev Koffel, who owns the nearby Deep Cove Chalet, told the Vancouver Sun. “I wish them all the privacy they can possibly get. They deserve it.”
It’s not clear how much longer the little royal family plans to spend in Canada. They picked a good spot to reportedly vacation in though — Vancouver Island was just named as one of CNN’s top 20 places in the world to visit.