William and Kate’s anniversary trip to Scottish island Mull boosts isle’s tourism

With its unique combination of sweeping sandy beaches, rural idyll and burgeoning food and arts scenes, holiday homes on the Isle of Mull, in the inner Hebrides, regularly book up a year in advance.

But two people who have had no problem finding accommodation are the Prince and Princess of Wales, who arrived on the island to mark their 14th wedding anniversary in a self-catered cottage.

“We’ve certainly noticed an increase in interest around their visit,” said Becky Carter, who runs Isle of Mull Cottages with her husband, Reuben, letting out more than 100 properties across the island. Last week, Google searches for Mull spiked when the royal visit was announced.

Carter said she already had more than 20 bookings for next year. As of Friday, those still hoping to catch a royal glimpse had a few options remaining, including a four-person luxury apartment starting at £625 for five nights, or a mountain bothy for two costing just over £1,000 for a week.

During their trip, William and Catherine – whose official titles while in the area are the Lord and Lady of the Isles – will travel to the west coast of the island for a visit to celebrated local restaurant and converted croft, Croft 3, which has been featured in the New York Times style magazine and received a Royal Institute of British Architects award. Bookings here are highly coveted, but owner Jeanette Lynn will open her doors to the royal couple to discuss sustainable farming and hospitality.

“This side of the island is a pretty exciting place to be at the moment – there are a lot of people investing their passion and energy into the landscape and people seem to be interested in what we’re doing,” said Lynn.

“We’ll put our best set of wellies on to welcome [the royals] and hopefully they’ll enjoy the view with a bit of haggis and a few oysters like everyone else.”

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