Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati would really like to woo the soon-to-be-royal couple.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati would really like to woo the soon-to-be-royal couple.
As soon as he learned that Prince William and his fiancee, Kate Middleton, were planning a trip to Canada following their wedding this spring, Diodati sent a letter to Buckingham Palace, inviting the couple to visit Niagara Falls.
Late Princess Diana and her sons William and Harry at Niagara Falls in October 1991
"It seemed like a logical place for him to stop,"u00a0 said Diodati. "In 1991, he was here with his mother and his brother. And... we're known by many as the honeymoon capital of the world.
So, we decided to make sure that we extended the invitation, extended the hospitality, to invite him, personally, to make Niagara Falls one of his stops."
That unique combination of romantic and nostalgic appeal is something Diodati believes only Niagara Falls can offer William and Kate. For that reason, he's confident that he'll be seeing the couple sometime this spring or summer.
"I'm certain that it's on their radar. We just want to make sure that they zero in and make it one of their targets," Diodati says.
"There's a lot of neat history, and a lot of connection [between the royal family and] the Falls already, and I think this would be a neat way of continuing that connection," he added.
That's more or less what Diodati told the couple, in his letter.
The letter said, "I'm glad that you've confirmed your trip to come to Canada. We'd like to make sure that Niagara Falls is part of those plans. Let us help you to create an unforgettable experience."
Although Niagara Falls is not on the public itinerary of William and Kate's trip to Canada which was released by the royal family earlier this week Diodati isn't worried that that necessarily means the couple will be passing over the Falls.
"Most dignitaries, celebrities... whether it's a Pope, a Queen, a King, a Hollywood celebrity... they come unannounced," he explains. And if it's privacy the royal newlyweds are craving, no problem, says Diodati. He'll make it happen.
u00a0"If you could get, arguably, the world's most famous newlywed couple to come to Niagara Falls, I don't think that would hurt our reputation as a tourist destination, as a honeymoon destination, and as one of those must-be locations," chuckled Diodati.
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