The owners of the popular Notting Hill bookshop have shared how visitors travel 6,000 miles to propose at the Hugh Grant hotspot – with the most recent one taking place last weekend (18 January).
Howard and James Malin have co-owned the famous store for 12 years and both live in the neighbourhood.
They claim to have “lost count” of the amount of people who have popped the question outside their doors over the years.
READ MORE: Stunned Cornishman chops firewood and finds map of… Cornwall inside log
Last Saturday, it was 39-year-old Álvaro Goncalves’ turn.
He asked his love Laura Marchetti, 35, – who is a fan of the 1999 film – to be his forever as a guitarist played in the background.
The couple, who have been together for five years, live in Leiden, Netherlands, but travelled to London for the special moment.
What’s The Jam talks to the owners as well as the couple in this exclusive story.
“Some proposals we are notified of in advance and some we just hear the applause outside or witness inside,” said James from the Notting Hill Bookshop.
“We even had a couple from New York celebrate their first wedding anniversary, having met in the shop and gone for a drink.
“Last year, we also had one guy from South Africa who said he was coming to London with his girlfriend and since it was her favourite film, wanted to propose in front of the shop!
“We keep a bottle of Prosecco handy for impromptu proposals!”
The pair have also had some particularly memorable proposals.
He said: “Once we had a guy from Germany and a girl from Australia who were inspired to move to London for a year [after] having watched the film.
“They didn’t know each other but ended up in a house share a couple of blocks away from the shop.
“During the year, they began a relationship and went on a romantic weekend to Paris.
“The night before they returned, on their way back to the hotel, they passed by a jewellery store and she ‘noticed’ a ring that she dreamily admired.
“A few months later, he approached me to ask if he could propose in the shop because the film brought them to London.
“I said ‘Of course’.
“On the Sunday, he brought in a scrapbook of their year together and asked us to present it to her when she walked in, which we did.
“We could see them on our CCTV going through the scrapbook laughing, kissing and cuddling.
“Then he went down on one knee… there on the last page was the ring that she had admired that night in Paris months before!”
Valentine’s Day is particularly hectic.
He said: “We like to spread love throughout the year!
“We often get questions and jokes about Hugh Grant.
“The most common [answer] being ‘He’s on his lunch break, come back in half an hour’.
“Or they ask if we have a Winnie the Pooh book or a travel guide to Istanbul, as asked in the film.
“We also have a chalkboard in the shop where we record days without a Hugh or Julia joke.
“The record is five days!”
In the most recent proposal clip, the musician can be seen playing his music during a serenade.
The camera then turns to the happy couple as Álvaro gets down on one knee and pops the question.
Laura says yes and the two get up for a hug and a kiss.
She then puts the ring on her finger with a big grin across her face.
Álvaro, who works as a consultant in digital transformation and AI, said: “I had been planning this for months, but I wasn’t sure when we would travel to London.
“It’s a city we both love.
“The movie Notting Hill is one I really like a lot, because of the city, British humour, and Julia Roberts.
“And in fact, when I met Laura she liked [it] too, so she suggested we watch it every Valentine’s Day as a tradition.
“I sent an email without much hope to The Notting Hill Bookshop and, to my surprise, I received a positive response from them, who were totally willing to help me and were already excited.”
Laura, who is an international children’s rights lawyer, said: Generally [I had no suspicions that he would propose], because the whole day was filled with mini surprises.
“Although I suspected that around 7pm we were going to a nice restaurant or a show, because Álvaro had told me that we needed to be a bit more dressed up.
“[When we arrived at the store], I started looking and saw that there were people recording and I realised that they were only recording us.
“Then Álvaro got down on one knee and asked me.
“I let out a small squeak and said yes.
“Although I felt a bit shy, it was nice because you could feel the surprise of the customers in the atmosphere and then the energy of everyone there: The owners, the staff, the people entering the store.”
The moment was made extra special by the song – ‘The Millionaire Waltz’ by Queen – played by the musician.
Laura said: “It is the song I have planned to dance to at my wedding since I was 15 years old.”
The couple, who are jetting off to Chile to celebrate their engagement soon, haven’t made any wedding plans just yet.
They said: “We have the idea of maybe having a civil marriage here in the Netherlands to invite our friends from Europe and a religious ceremony in Chile with our families and friends from there.
“We hope it will be soon.”
Social media users have rushed to the comment section to share their congratulations for the couple.
Dani said: “Beautiful.”
Natalia added: “Ohhhh the best couple!”
Luisa wrote: “Congratulations. Long live the newlyweds!”
Jean commented: “That’s so romantic.”
Marita said: “Crying again, may they be intensely happy.”
READ MORE: Hapless bus driver smashes double-decker window by crashing into traffic lights
