King Charles has been told that he may qualify to wear the new medal for Britain’s nuclear veterans - and has invited one of them to his Coronation.
It comes as 820 veterans have lodged applications for the new gong, expected to be handed out this summer.
The king is one of thousands of sons and daughters whose fathers were involved in the Cold War weapons tests, and who now have the right to collect a posthumous gong on their behalf.
His late father Prince Philip visited Christmas Island in 1959 on what he described as “a diplomatic mission”, meeting troops who had just exploded the first UK hydrogen bombs.
The possibility of His Majesty himself wearing the new medal at the Cenotaph later this year, as surviving veterans salute him, has delighted campaigners and is now being explored at the highest levels.
A government source said: “It’s not something we were aware of when the medal was announced, and it will probably surprise the King too.
“The medal criteria were intentionally very broad so that no-one would miss out, and whether the King might qualify to wear his father’s medal is something we are looking into.”
The monarch has also invited John Morris, 85, to the Coronation next week as a result of his high-profile campaigning for the gong. John, of Rochdale, met Boris Johnson last year and thumped his desk as he told him: "Give me a medal or tell me to sod off."
Members of the nuclear community realised the royal links after applications began to pour in to the Ministry of Defence medal office last month.
More than 800 have now been received, but many are thought to be from descendants on behalf of fathers who have died. At least 50 veteran recipients are being sought to take part in an investiture-style ceremony later this summer, and it is hoped that the King may attend.
Campaigner Alan Owen, whose father took part in a series of 24 detonations in just 78 days in 1962, has written to Palace courtiers informing them of the connection.
He said: “It’s well-known among veterans that the Duke of Edinburgh visited briefly, but it was only when we delved into the detail we realised he would probably qualify.
“He was serving the same Queen, following instructions from the same government, and was there to support efforts to create the nation's nuclear deterrent. He shared some of the risks, and unlike many of the troops he could have chosen to be somewhere else.”
Philip - whose visit was briefly featured in The Crown as part of a year-long tour of the Commonwealth on the Royal Yacht Britannia - stayed only a few days. The Mirror has reported how the prince toured the island in a helicopter, dined in the mess, and was warned not to drink the desalinated sea-water. There were even plans to take him to Ground Zero, where the sand had been fused into green glass, if he asked.
The Duke was asked to deliver letters to heads of state, and said it was “a diplomatic mission” he’d been asked to undertake by the late Queen. It is thought that would qualify him, as the medal is for anyone “under UK command” in the testing grounds, for any length of time between 1952 and 1967.
Mr Owen said: “If His Majesty wanted to wear the medal for his dad, like many of us are, he would have the support of the entire nuclear veteran community. It would be more controversial if some courtier told him he couldn’t wear it.
“We are all extremely proud to be receiving the first medal of His Majesty’s reign, but it would be the cherry on the top if, when we salute him, he was wearing it too.”
Sir John Hayes, patron of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, said: “Given the late Prince Philip’s distinguished service in the navy and to this country, it would be wonderful if this medal could be awarded to him posthumously. It would send a clear signal, at the highest level, about the importance of the contribution made by the nuclear test veterans and it would delight them, and their families, if His Majesty was able to wear it."
Buckingham Palace and the Cabinet Office refused to comment.
* To apply for the nuclear test veterans medal, go to https://www.labrats.international/medal, or call LABRATS on 020 3286 3988 to have one posted to you susie.boniface@mirror.co.uk
