St James's Palace refuses to confirm that Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are honeymooning in the Indian Ocean
The young British couple who slipped quietly into their honeymoon destination had been hoping for least a modicum of anonymity. But apparently unable to contain itself at the publicity potential of their guests, the Seychelles tourism board has blown the lid on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's post-nuptial getaway – even as Palace officials at home remained inscrutably tight-lipped.
Accompanied by a police Range Rover piled high with luggage, the duke and duchess were seen leaving Anglesey in north Wales on Monday, after he had returned to his job as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot for a brief stint, from which he has now taken two weeks' leave.
A spokesman for St James's Palace said: "We are not confirming and we are not commenting on speculation on where they may be going on their private honeymoon. We are just confirming that they have gone."
Interest in the honeymoon will test relations between the royal family and the press, as concerns have grown over media intrusion after the couple's wedding. Over the weekend, the media reported on William's role in the rescue of a retired judge who had a heart attack while walking on Snowdon. The Middleton family complained to the Press Complaints Commission on Monday after photographs of Kate and Pippa Middleton and their mother, Carole, in bikinis while on holiday with William on a yacht off Ibiza were published in four newspapers – the Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, News of the World and Daily Mirror.
The honeymoon destination has been kept a tight secret, but after the arrival of the couple early on Tuesday for a 10-day holiday, a Seychelles tourism official spilled the beans, confirming that their presence and the fact that they had been taken by helicopter from the Indian Ocean destination's main airport on Mahe to a private island, where they are expected to hole up in a private bungalow.
William and Kate spent a week in the Indian Ocean archipelago, on the island of Desroches, in August 2007. William is reported to have told islanders that the trip was the best holiday he had had.
Desroches is the main island of the Amirantes group, an exclusive setting well beyond the reach of most honeymoon couples. The archipelago boasts 115 islands.
The choice suggests William and Kate's relationship is on a more equal footing than his parents'. Charles and Diana's post-wedding travels in 1981 – Broadlands in Hampshire, family home of the Mountbattens, followed by a Mediterranean cruise on the royal yacht, then on to Balmoral with his family – smacked of a husband calling the shots.
Whether the Amirantes will be such an aphrodisiac is another question. William was born in 1982, eight months after the couple returned.