扒哥吃瓜

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REQUEST REF: FOI2026_00003S聽

Thank you for your email of聽3 January 2026聽asking for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. Your email聽was聽forwarded聽to us by the聽Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office聽on 5 January 2026聽and was聽validated聽on 12 January 2026.聽You asked:聽

1. Please could you provide information relating to King鈥檚 Messengers identification. Do they have unique passports?聽

2. If you could provide redacted images of an example of a King鈥檚 Messengers passport, that would be appreciated. For example, prior to 2014 they had unique passports with a unique coat of arms that聽stated聽鈥漄ueen鈥檚 Messenger Courrier Diplomatique鈥� is there a modern equivalent or is this just聽stated聽on the 鈥淥fficial observations鈥� page inside the passport?聽

3. Additionally, are there any badges, medals, ribbons, coat of arms for the King鈥檚 Messengers? If so, please provide images and descriptions of them.聽

I am writing to confirm that we have now completed the search for the information which you requested.听听聽

I can confirm that FCDO Services does hold information relevant to your request, as set out below.聽

1) King鈥檚 Messengers have Diplomatic Passports.聽Additional聽information is聽exempt under section 21 of the FOIA, as we聽are not required to聽provide聽information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.聽Further information can be found聽here:听听聽

/government/publications/observations-in-passports/observations-in-passports-accessible#diplomatic-official-and-kings-messenger-observations听听

/government/publications/types-of-british-passports/types-of-british-passports-accessible听听

/government/publications/diplomatic-and-official-service-passports-and-observations/diplomatic-and-official-service-passports-and-observations-accessible听听

2) Images of聽King鈥檚 Messengers passports are聽withheld under Section 31 鈥� see below for further information.聽However聽technical descriptions are included in the聽hyperlinks provided above.聽

3) There is a King鈥檚 Messenger King Charles III ceremonial badge.聽Further聽information,聽including the official Kings聽Messenger鈥檚聽emblem and聽tie,聽can be found here:聽.聽Additional聽images聽and descriptions聽are聽withheld under Section 31 鈥� see below for further information.聽

Section 31鈥�鈥�聽

Section 31(1) is a qualified exemption, which means that it is subject to a public interest test. We acknowledge the public interest in openness and transparency.聽However, disclosure of the information requested could aid a criminal who was intent on聽impersonating a聽member of the King鈥檚 Messenger聽Service聽or聽could expose the聽King鈥檚 Messenger Service聽to potential threats of a criminal nature.鈥�鈥�聽

For the reasons set out above, we have assessed that the public interest in鈥痬aintaining鈥痶his exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.鈥�鈥�鈥�聽

Once an FOI request is answered, it聽is considered to be聽in the public domain.听听To promote transparency, FCDO Services may now publish the response and any material released on聽扒哥吃瓜聽in the聽FOI releases聽section.听听All personal information in the letter will be removed before publishing.听听

Where copies of information have been supplied to聽you聽they will continue to be protected by聽the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.鈥� You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting.鈥� Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.鈥� Most documents supplied by the FCDO will have been produced by government officials and will be protected by Crown Copyright.鈥� To re-use Crown Copyright documents please consult the聽聽on the National Archives website.聽

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non-Crown Copyright) information.聽

If you would like to request a review of our decision, you should write to聽the Data Protection Officer (DPO), Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) Team, FCDO Services, Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes, England, MK19 7BH (e-mail:聽FCDOServices.DataProtectionOfficer@fcdo.gov.uk).听听Please note you have 40 working days to do so from the date of this letter.聽Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.聽

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.听听Generally, the聽Information Commissioner cannot聽make a decision聽unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the FCDO. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, or online at:聽听听

Yours sincerely,聽

FOI Officer聽

Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) Team聽

FCDO Services