A British Indian restaurant has gone viral after sharing an ad which they claim was filmed recently but which appears to contain footage of a long-dead patron.
Spice Cottage in Emsworth, West Sussex, went viral for posting a video in mid-January that one woman claims contains footage of her husband, who has been dead for nine years. “How old is the footage? My late husband and his son are on the first shot and he died in 2014??” Lucy Watson, 59, the widow of late music journalist Harry Doherty commented on the post.
The footage shows Doherty eating with his son, Alex, according to the Daily Mail. It was posted on Jan. 16, and the restaurant is insisting that the footage was taken just days prior.
“Hi Lucy, sorry to hear this. This footage was recorded last week,” the restaurant wrote in response to her comment.
“I don’t really use Facebook apart from snooping on friends or catching up with people. I was scrolling through and the video popped up,” Watson told the Daily Mail. “The moment I saw the thing I thought ‘Oh my God – that’s Harry.’ It was so instant. I didn’t even have to think. He’d be eating a chicken korma because that’s all he ever ate.”
She noted that she rewatched the footage about 30 times just to be entirely sure she was seeing her dead husband. “Each time, I was surer and surer,” she said.
Doherty’s distinctive features, broad build, unique glasses and shirt were all recognizable to his widow, the Daily Mail continued. She said the video didn’t bother her until the restaurant messaged back claiming the footage had just been taken.
“They are never busy like that any more, that’s the problem. They have obviously posted this to generate customers because they are really up against it now,” Watson told the Daily Mail. “There’s a newish Indian restaurant that’s trying to get a Michelin star. There’s an old-fashioned one which I go to which is a nice cheap one and another one that’s very trendy.”
The restaurant doubled down on their claim that the video was taken recently. The owner, Rofiqul Islam, claims the restaurant had different tables in 2014, and the ones in the video were delivered just before the footage was taken. “It’s quite an unusual situation,” he noted. (RELATED: REVIEW: ‘The Thing About Pam’ Is The Most Bizarre True Crime Show Of 2022)
Watson has lost touch with Doherty’s son, Alex, since his death. Doherty was seriously ill and hospitalized prior to his death, and lost a significant amount of weight, the outlet noted. “There’s absolutely no doubt” that Doherty died in 2014, Watson confirmed, refuting claims that he may have faked his own death.