King Charles reportedly called in ministers to block plans to rename a terminal at Heathrow Airport after him.
The eco-conscious king is said to have shot down the plans, a matter of days ahead of his Coronation.
Heathrow had reportedly wanted to mark the Coronation by renaming Terminal 5 after King Charles III, almost a decade after Terminal 2 was named the Queen’s Terminal, in 2014.
But Buckingham Palace reportedly called in ministers to politely turn the offer down without causing embarrassment.
This all comes as the Royal family prepares for the historic King’s Coronation coming on May 6.
The Times revealed the King’s polite refusal, and reported a government source said that “environmental considerations” had left the monarch hesitant to take up the offer.
A second source told the outlet it was turned down because of the lack of close connections between Charles and the airport.
The King has long been an active environmentalist, and at Cop26 in Glasgow last year he called on the country to move to a “war-like footing” to deal with the “existential threat” that was climate change.
He also called for a move from the “fossil-fuel-based economy” to a sustainable one.
However, Charles has faced criticism for his frequent use of private jets and helicopters despite his repeated rhetoric.
Use of the monarch’s name and title, and the ‘royal’ description more generally is tightly controlled by the family and the exact criteria that allows royal naming has never been made public.
Last year the Kennel Club was granted royal designation in recognition of the late Queen’s love of dogs.
But, the new Elizabeth Line in London didn’t need it as it didn’t include the world “Queen” or “Royal”.
Instead, the airport is marking the Coronation with a commemorative luggage tag.
On their website Heathrow called climate change “the greatest challenge of our time” and admitted their own carbon footprint is “part of the problem”.
Like the rest of the global economy, they aim for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to their Sustainability Plan.
Heathrow Airport have been approached for comment.
