EXCLUSIVE Mystery over ‘dead husband’ curry house video is solved: Son says widow ‘got it wrong’
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A woman who thought she saw her dead husband in a new promotional video for an Indian restaurant made a mistake, it was said today.
Widow Lucy Watson, 59, unknowingly cooked up an internet storm after posting that footage showed the late husband Harry Doherty eating with their son Alex at Spice Cottage near their home in Emsworth, West Sussex.
The post on the restaurant’s Facebook page sparked a flurry of messages from social media users as far away as Tahiti and the US Virgin Islands who bombarded the site with theories about the bizarre mystery.
But now Alex, 39, has come forward to settle the matter once and for all, confirming that he and his late father are not in the video.
Alex (right), 39, has come forward to settle the matter once and for all, confirming that neither he nor his late father appear in the video.
Widow Lucy Watson, 59, inadvertently set up an internet storm after posting that footage (above) showed the late husband Harry Doherty eating with their son Alex at Spice Cottage near their home in Emsworth, West Sussex.
After seeing the images for the first time, he told MailOnline: ‘No way. He is not my dad and it is not me. She got it wrong.
‘You can see from the comments that people are really intrigued about it. They really want to know the answers.
‘The answer is that it’s not my dad, that’s all.’
Lucy had recounted how she was convinced she had seen her ‘instantly recognizable’ husband, who was an award-winning journalist and larger-than-life popular character in the local area.
She said her husband, who died at 61 in 2014, was “a large, distinctive man” who had white hair and wore glasses.
She added: “I recognized the blue sweatshirt he was wearing and he’s sitting there with his son Alex.”
Lucy said that the couple occasionally had dinner at the Indian restaurant when Alex visited his father.
She believed that the restaurant had posted old images in an attempt to attract new customers.
Lucy (pictured) had recounted how she was convinced she had seen her ‘instantly recognizable’ husband, who was an award-winning journalist and larger-than-life popular figure in the local area.
She said her husband (pictured), who died at age 61 in 2014, was “a large, distinctive man” who had white hair and wore glasses.
It led her to post a message on the Facebook page saying: ‘How old is the footage? My late husband and his son are in the first shot and he died in 2014?
The restaurant sent a message saying: ‘Hi Lucy Watson, sorry to hear this. This footage was recorded last week.’
The exchanges led to the issue going viral. Some compared the sighting to the case of canoeist John Darwin, who faked his own death in a life insurance scam.
But Alex, a former duathlon world champion who competed for Great Britain, insisted that Lucy had simply been wrong.
He said: ‘It’s not him and it’s not me. When I opened my laptop it’s completely obvious. Anyone who knew my father would know immediately.
“The guy in the video looks bald to begin with. He has hair on the side but is bald on top.
‘The guy in front of him is older than me.
Sorry about the restaurant. They have done nothing wrong and all this is happening.
Alex, who now lives in Worcestershire, said he had not been in contact with Lucy in recent years.
He added: “I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
Alex, a former duathlon world champion who competed for Great Britain, insisted that Lucy had simply been wrong.
The restaurant also weighed in to “clarify some misunderstandings,” with the man who took the images releasing a statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
He said that all the videos used in the promotion were shot in the week beginning January 9 of this year.
Bodrul Islam, the restaurant’s manager, wrote: ‘I run the social media side of the business and shot the promotional video to show off our new wooden tables and interior renovation.
‘The refurbishment was completed in early January 2023 and the promotional video highlights these changes.
‘Before January 2023, all the tables were covered with white and red tablecloths, from then on it becomes clear that this filming is recent.
“This is a very unusual situation and we hope this clears up any confusion.”
Mr. Doherty, who was born in Northern Ireland, won acclaim for his coverage of The Troubles before moving to England, where he relaunched his career as a music journalist working for Melody Maker.
Among the bands and artists he championed as they tried to make it big were Thin Lizzy, Kate Bush, 10CC, and The Boomtown Rats.
He then founded his own rock magazine and befriended Queen guitarist Brian May after writing an official book about the band.
May sent floral tributes to the rock writer’s funeral after his sad death in April 2014.
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