A UK family’s trip to Disneyland Paris was put on hold after a 6-year-old’s passport application was denied because she was named after a ‘Games of Throne’ character.
According to a report by the BBC, Lucy, a 39-year-old mother from Swindon in Wiltshire, planned and saved up to take her 6-year-old daughter Khaleesi to Disneyland Paris. However Lucy was informed that Khaleesi’s passport application was rejected because her daughter’s name was trademarked by Warner Brothers.
For those who’ve never watched the Game of Thrones TV series (me included), ‘khaleesi’ means ‘queen’ in Dothraki, a fictional language featured in the show.
After seeking legal advice, Lucy was informed that there was indeed a trademark for the name, but it was only applicable for goods and services, and not for a person’s name. Even after passing on this information to the passport office, they still claimed that authorization was required from Warner Brothers before they could approve the application.
“That information was sent to the Passport Office who said I would need a letter from Warner Brothers to confirm my daughter is able to use that name,” she said.
A change in tune
Not being satisfied with the response, Lucy took her story to social media and local news outlets in hopes of finding a solution to her problem. It seems she was able to attract enough attention as officials later called her back to apologize for the error. The passport office said that there is rule in place for things like this, but it is only applicable to those changing their name.
“If I hadn’t posted this on social media, nothing would have been done.
“I would have been stuck, not knowing what to do.
“People contacted me about similar experiences,” she said.
Thankfully Lucy did the wise thing by not booking her flight and hotel, but said she hopes that the issue could be resolved in a timely manner so they could still visit Disneyland on the original planned dates. She also said she hopes this issue raises awareness for others who may have gone through a similar experience.
“I am hoping the passport will be issued soon and was promised that they would call back in a few days to see if it had progressed.
“I think there might be other people in this situation, that they may have had their passports declined recently because of something like this.”