An Australian café in San Remo, Victoria, named Beachside Bakehouse, recently amused unsuspecting customers by sharing a fabricated AI image featuring what seemed to be Prince Harry and Meghan Markle enjoying a coffee on the terrace during the Sussexes’ ‘unofficial’ royal visit to Australia. The café playfully captioned the photo on Facebook, jokingly mentioning their suitability for royalty and humorously suggesting that Prince Harry owes them a coffee.

While some customers caught on to the prank, others were genuinely fooled by the realistic computer-generated image, with some even complimenting the café staff on hosting the royal couple. However, a keen observer pointed out a giveaway detail that the AI version of Prince Harry had more hair than the real one.

Following the brief flirtation with rebranding as The Royal Bakehouse in light of the ‘visit,’ Beachside Bakehouse eventually revealed the hoax, explaining that it was all in good fun to capitalize on the Harry and Meghan buzz in Australia and engage the local community.

The café shared that the post garnered over 200,000 views within 24 hours and was widely shared more than 150 times, leading to significant exposure for their small business. This playful stunt came amidst Prince Harry’s recent praise for Australia’s decision to ban under-16s from social media, commending the country for its leadership in safeguarding children online.