Last week, we learned via Greek media that the Prince and Princess of Wales were on a luxury vacation in Greek waters. According to Greek reports, they “borrowed” the superyacht Opera for a family vacation, a vacation including their three children plus Carole and Michael Middleton. They reportedly set off for this vacation soon after the Wimbledon finals, and the group arrived in Greece via a private jet, with heavy security. The Greek media reported all of this openly, and some local outlets have been trying to keep track of Opera and the Wales fam. But the British media absolutely refused to cover any part of it, not even a whisper of “reports out of Greece indicate a family vacation.” Well, Will and Kate’s yacht vacay must be over, because the Daily Mail splashed the story on their front page! Some highlights from this hilarious story:

Greek locals swear that they’ve seen Will & Kate: For more than a week, though, another topic, or rather a question, has dominated conversation in bars and tavernas, particularly on beautiful Kefalonia. Has anyone seen Prince William and his family? Locals swear blind that the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children George, 12, Charlotte, ten, and seven-year-old Louis arrived on the island by private Lear jet on July 16. Also in tow, others insisted, were the future King’s in-laws, Carole and Michael Middleton. All were then driven to a waiting superyacht. And from there out to azure waters and, well, who knows where?

The superyacht: On July 19 stories began to surface in the Greek media of how the Prince and Princess were enjoying the largesse of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a prominent member of the UAE royal family. His £340 million 146-metre (479ft) mega-yacht, Opera, is said to be one of the most opulent private vessels in the world. It boasts every amenity imaginable and in some cases, like Noah’s Ark, two of everything – including helipads. While the story was ignored by the British media, it was picked up around the world. The Delhi-based Hindustan Times, for instance, ran its account under the headline ‘Prince William, Kate Middleton sailing around Greece on yacht belonging to Emirati sheikh’.

The vacation looks pretty bad for preachy environmentalist William: Besides, Lear jets and mega-yachts aren’t a particularly good look for a prince who wears his green credentials proudly. William’s Earthshot Prize gives £1 million every year to five projects tackling climate challenges. And wasn’t it only a couple of months ago that he was hailing Sir David Attenborough on the eve of his new documentary, Ocean? In it, Sir David intones: ‘I now understand that if we save the sea we save our world.’ And it goes without saying that the great naturalist is decidedly sniffy about fuel-guzzling superyachts, which are said to cause even more damage to the environment than private jets. Maybe William and co had opted for a caravan holiday on the Isle of Wight instead. Sources were still insisting, though, that the royals had ‘definitely’ landed at Kefalonia’s main airport.

The Mail spoke to a retired civil servant in Greece: Then word reached the Daily Mail of a woman – a retired senior civil servant in the Greek defence ministry – who was said to have seen them first hand. The only known person, in fact, to have laid eyes on them. Aged 64, Penelope Likoudi was born and raised on the island. Every day, she says, she swims in the bay, ‘where I do exercises in the water for my back’. Last Tuesday was no different but this time there was a yacht moored about 100 metres or so from the shore and vaguely mindful of the stories of William and Kate, she decided to check it out. ‘It was a possibility as a lot of celebrities come to this very spot. I think it was sometime after 11.30 in the morning,’ she recalled. ‘I swam out beyond the warning buoy and was about 30 metres (100ft) from the yacht when I saw them. Kate was standing on the top level with Charlotte and Louis. She was wearing a dark wraparound dress. There was an older lady next to them, possibly Kate’s mother, but I wasn’t able to see her well. I literally shivered with excitement. I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it. Now I wish I’d called out hello to them. But I didn’t, I got star-struck and couldn’t get the words out. There was no sign of William or George though.’ Did they see her? ‘I think they must have done. I was the only one swimming that far out. You know, there was only a handful of locals on the beach.’

The Wales fam might have been on a different boat: It transpires that the Prince and Princess were in fact on the 50 metre (164ft) Almax, one of the world’s first fuel-cell superyachts which is estimated to be worth £40million. Built by Italian firm San Lorenzo, it is described as a ‘huge milestone in the future of sustainable boating’. That at least should deflect any criticism heading the Prince’s way. Sure enough, Penelope’s sighting tallies with maritime records which show that the Almax left Kioni the following day. It returned to Argostoli on Friday. There remains one mystery. Witnesses saw a different party exit the boat the next morning.

The Wales fam are back in the UK: William and Charlotte subsequently flew to Switzerland on Sunday to cheer on the Lionesses as they won the Euros final. It is understood that the family are now back in Britain. Kensington Palace did not respond to the Mail’s request for comment.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s remarkable to see the Mail actually doing investigative legwork and really tracing all of the yachts in the area to figure out which one William and Kate borrowed. If this had been about the Sussexes, do you think the Mail would have been this diligent and conservative in their approach to how they reported the story? Anyway, I believe the Greek reports that Will and Kate borrowed Opera, and I would also guess that the family probably barely left the yacht, which is why there were so few sightings of them on land. This is not Jackie hopping off the Christina O to go shopping in Capri, you know? This is about a supposed environmentalist prince borrowing a private jet to take his family on a vacation on a megayacht borrowed from an Emirate sheikh.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images, Kensington Palace.