DAYTIME Queen Alison Hammond met Prince William – the Prince of Wales during his tour of Birmingham with his wife, the Princess of Wales and left a diner gobsmacked by taking his restaurant booking over the phone, Politicalite can exclusively reveal.
In scenes that aired on ITV’s This Morning on Friday, William, 40, answered a call at an Indian street food restaurant in Birmingham on Tuesday and gave the diner directions before saying sorry to staff if he’d got them wrong.
A video seen by Politicalite shows him picking up the phone at the Indian Streatery restaurant in Bennetts Hill, and after telling the customer they couldn’t eat “right now”, he said a place for two people at 2.30pm would be “absolutely fine”, adding: “We’ll see you at quarter past two.”
William then told staff about the directions he gave: “He knows where you are now – I probably sent him somewhere else in Birmingham so I apologise.”
By the time husband and wife Vinay Aggarwal and Ankita Gulati arrived to eat, William and Kate had moved on to another engagement, and they were stunned to find out it was the royal who took their booking.
Software engineer Vinny said he had “no idea” it was William on the phone, adding: “It’s pretty amazing and a surprise. I didn’t know at that moment, but it’s a very nice surprise.
“Obviously (I will be telling everyone), it’s not something that happens often.
“I didn’t recognise his voice at all, this is the first time I was listening to him on the phone, so I genuinely thought someone was taking the booking for me.”
Restaurant owner Meena Sharma said: “All of us around him were really surprised he actually picked up the phone and actually said ‘this is the Indian Streatery’, and there was a genuine person on the other end wanting to make a booking.
“But I think he probably could have a role as a front of house manager, we could probably employ him to take phone calls in future as he did a really good job.”
William and Kate’s visit came ahead of a nationwide tour of Britain to tie in with King Charles’ upcoming coronation, and they said on their tour of Birmingham they “love curries” and “secretly try lots of curry houses around the country”.
Kate added she found food “so nostalgic” and said she “loves spice”, while William said he preferred milder curries, declaring: “I’m a masala man.”
The couple, who have children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Prince Louis, also prepared rotis, a traditional flatbread, at the Indian restaurant.
This Morning with Alison and Dermot airs at 10am every Friday with the biggest celebrity guests.
