Aristocrat's dad 'fuming' as Ryanair refuse to let him on flight in passport row

16 May 2023 , 08:17

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Tim Hanbury was refused onto a Ryanair flight at the weekend (Image: Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)

An aristocrat's father has been left 'fuming' after being refused onto a Ryanair flight due to a passport blunder.

Tim Hanbury, whose daughter is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, Rose Hanbury - former neighbours of the Prince and Princess of Wales - was hoping to jet off for a weekend away from Stansted Airport in Essex.

However, staff reportedly refused to allow him onto the flight, despite his passport not expiring for another nine months.

But since Brexit, British passports cannot be more than ten years old when used to travel to the European Union – which means travellers need to look at the date the passport was issued, rather than the date it expires.

Tim Hanbury's passport was not due to expire for another nine months (Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)

Rose Hanbury and her husband have close connections with the Royal Family (Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)

"Tim was very upset and frustrated," one of his friends told the Daily Mail.

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"He was fuming about Ryanair because he could not have the weekend away that he was looking forward to."

Hanbury refused to comment, telling the Mail from his home in South Devon: "Sorry, I am incredibly busy, so I won’t be able to comment."

Daughter Rose, 39, and her husband filmmaker and the Marquess of Cholmondeley David Rocksavage, 62, are key figures in King Charles' court with their son a page of honour at the Coronation.

A Ryanair spokesman said: "As this passenger’s passport was issued in May 2013, it does not meet the first entry requirement under EU legislation."

Ryanair said Hanbury's passport 'does not meet the first entry requirements under EU legislation' (Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock)

This comes after the airline previously teased a newlywed couple who complained about the lack of a window seat on their flight.

Mark Bowe took to social media to moan he didn't have a window beside his seat on the plane to Ibiza, where he and his wife were heading for their honeymoon.

The tourist tweeted: "Off on honeymoon now about to fly into #ibiza for the first time and we just can’t wait to check out the view on the way over… Oh…wait…. Cheers @Ryanair #nowindow #wheresmywindow #someview."

But the meteorologist, from Dublin, Ireland, was somewhat mocked by the budget airline.

The social media employee quoted Mark's tweet, saying: "She’s regretting marrying someone who can’t read the fine print."

The admin then reminded Mark that there is such a thing as "random seat allocation", and then added another withering blow when someone wrote 'Ryanair admin your days are numbered'.

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The response was: "Like this marriage".

In the company's Twitter bio it now says "we sell seats, not windows". Someone brought this to Mark's attention telling him "they have absolutely done you in their bio".

Hannah Kane