King Charles’s coronation is going to be marked by a particularly unusual gesture from Heathrow Airport, according to new reports.
With world leaders flying into London’s airports ahead of the big day on May 6, it makes sense that Heathrow feels the need to honour the occasion.
And, according to The Times, the airport has decided a free “commemorative luggage tag” will do the trick.
Around 12,000 tags, designed by London-based artist Morag Myerscough, will be handed out between May 1 and May 10 to Heathrow passengers as a “keepsake to hold onto for years to come”.
Myerscough said: “I marked the day with ‘CR III 2023’ and on the reverse depicting an abstract gateway to echo how Heathrow is the gateway to the UK and the world, welcoming people to start their adventures there and now to celebrate a new monarch.”
The tag is also printed by the royals’ “favourite stationer” Barnard & Westwood.
It comes after the monarch reportedly rejected Heathrow’s first offer to name Terminal 5 after him, an honour it also extended to the late Queen Elizabeth. She accepted the name, meaning Terminal 2 became the Queen’s Terminal in 2014.
Heathrow thought proposing another name change was suitable because of the “long-standing connections” it has with the Royal Family. The late Queen, for instance, took her first steps on British soil as the UK’s monarch at Heathrow back in 1952.
Despite this bond, allegedly the Palace was advised to reject the offer by the government.
A royal spokesperson said, “the granting of royal titles is done on the advice of government,” while the Cabinet Office said it did not comment on royal titles.
The Times also suggests Charles didn’t fancy it either, despite his own background in flying – he served in the RAF and the Navy in the 70s.
The newspaper hinted that this move may be due to the King’s strong environmentalist – perhaps not being linked directly to a carbon-spewing airport was a good move, especially as he has faced criticism for his own use of private jets.
But The Times claims airport refuted that being associated with it would not clash with Charles’ green roots, but did acknowledge that it has a problem with carbon.
Heathrow can’t exactly make the change without the Palace’s approval though, because all of the symbolism associated with the Firm is closely guarded.
It’s not entirely clear what an organisation has to do to win over the royals and use the famous insignia or name, but it seems that Terminal 5 just doesn’t cut the royal mustard.
Other structures named after the Firm included the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2012 and Portsmouth’s Princess Royal naval base in 2017.
