Prince William and Kate Middleton are due to visit France on June 30 and July 1 for the Somme commemorations, but the royal couple was reportedly "refused room" by a French hotel because it was already fully booked.
Independent cited the French newspaper Courrier Picard which said that Le Hotel Marotte in Amiens had to decline the British royals because it was already fully booked on the aforementioned dates. It was said that the French Foreign Ministry contacted hotel manager Oliver Walti in January to book four suites in the luxury hotel for Prince William and Kate and their aides.
It appears that the French hotel was chosen because it was "the only five-star hotel near the battlefields." The Somme commemoration is set to honor one of the biggest World War I battles of British and French armies against the Germans by the River Somme. But because the hotel was already "booked solid," Walti had to refuse Prince William and Kate Middleton.
"We had to decline the offer, it is impossible, we are already booked solid," Walti explained. "We could not tell people who have booked with us for months and who have already paid for their stay, sorry, but the Royal Family is coming, we will have to cancel. It's just unthinkable ethically."
Aol also quoted a receptionist from the hotel as saying, "Unfortunately it is true. We have to decline many many people for the 30 June," confirming the hotel's decline of the royals' request for a room. "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," she further explained.
In other news, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recently enjoyed a ski holiday with their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte in the Alpine village of Courchevel, according to the Daily Mail. Photos of the British royal family on their "secret holiday" can be seen on the website.