The six-year-old girl's mother claimed officials said they couldn't process the request until Warner Brothers granted permission, because they owned the name's trademark. Spoiler: They do not.
ADVERTISEMENTA six-year-old girl's UK passport was denied, a refusal which led her mother to feel “devastated”.
The reason behind the crushing blow: her daughter has a Game of Thrones-inspired name.
Lucy, 39, from Swindon, recalled the mix-up to the BBC after the Passport office rejected the application for daughter, Khaleesi.
For those of you who need a refresher, Khaleesi is a Dothraki title which refers to Queen Daenerys I Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Mother of Dragons (we’ll stop there) in the hit HBO series.
Lucy claimed officials said they couldn't process the request until Warner Brothers granted permission, because they owned the name's trademark.
Indeed, according to the UK Gov official website, names that cannot be used in passports include ones that can cause public offense (names containing swear words, sexually explicit language, names associated with gangs / extremist organisations, or ones that promote or incite racial hatred, religious hostility or criminal behaviour); breach trademark or copyright; or ones that the system “cannot accept for technical reasons” - ie: names featuring numbers, symbols or diacritical characters that will apparently cause the system to go into full meltdown.
"I was absolutely devastated, we were so looking forward to our first holiday together," Lucy told the UK outlet, after planning a "dream" trip to Disneyland Paris.”
"But then I had a letter come through from the Passport Office, saying her name is trademarked by Warner Brothers. It was the first I've heard of such a thing - I was astonished,” adding that if her daughter’s name was not flagged up when she got her birth certificate, then why should it be an issue now?
It turns out that Lucy was right to be astonished, as while there is a trademark for Game of Thrones, the personal name was, in fact, free to use.
Officials have since apologised for the error, explaining that there had been a misunderstanding and the guidance staff had originally given applied only to people changing their names.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm the application is being processed and apologise to the family for the delay."
Lucy believes the situation has only been resolved because she shared her experience on social media.
"If I hadn't posted this on social media, nothing would have been done," Lucy suggested. "I would have been stuck, not knowing what to do. People contacted me about similar experiences."
And if the series has taught us anything, you do not want to wake the (social media) dragon.
