A mum has won an 18-month battle to get her legal middle name changed on her passport, meaning her full moniker finally now displays as Natalie Tinkerbelltherealgoddess Bell.
Natalie, 43, claims she was given the run around by the passport office after applying to have the name changed back in September 2019.
Known as Tinks to her friends and family, Natalie had legally changed her middle name from Simone the month previously via Deed Poll.
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But after providing all of the required documents, she claims she was told by the passport office she would need to get permission from Disney - the apparent copyright holders of the name Tinkerbell.
Natalie, who says she loves 'fairies, Disney and butterflies', found she was unable to travel abroad without her passport, meaning she couldn't go and visit her grandparents in Jamaica.
Eventually, she managed to get permission from Disney - but was then allegedly told she had to speak to Great Ormond Street Hospital, the London Children's hospital that author J M Barrie gifted the rights of 1929 novel Peter Pan and its characters to.
The mum-of-two, from Fulham in west London, said: "I felt I was being joked about. I understand they find the name thing unusual. Or think I'm as mad as a box of frogs but they're working for the passport office."
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Natalie claims she could hear 'sniggering and laughing', saying: "I just wanted to change my name due to my own connection with it. After all this it killed a little bit of that happiness."
She got permission from both Disney and Great Ormond Street Hospital, but in September 2020 her application was rejected.
A £100 fee was also taken to 'cover the cost of administering the application'.
Natalie - who has her middle name tattooed on her hand - continued to struggle without a passport, saying: "Honestly speaking at one stage I did start to regret it. How they made me feel. Thinking about my grandparents, not being able to see them."
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A frustrated Natalie decided to get in touch with Chelsea and Fulham MP Greg Hands (Con), before finally getting her new passport in March 2021.
She said she felt 'liberated', but believes the rigmarole was 'unnecessary in the first place'.
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"It was a game to them," she said.
Natalie said she changed her name due to her connection with fairies, as she is a 'very spiritual person'.
"I had so many years of hardship and I just thought, why not?" she said.
"It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. I mean, who wants to be the norm? Not me."
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And while some kids might be embarrassed of their parents, Natalie said her two daughters just take it all in their stride, adding: "They know I am who I am. That their mummy is eccentric. They find me laugh.
HM Passport Office said it was unable to review how Natalie was spoken to by staff as calls aren't recorded.
While it would not comment specifically on Natalie's case, a spokesperson for the Home Office said: "Her Majesty's Passport Office will not issue a passport until all checks to confirm nationality and identity have been satisfactorily completed."
Featured Image Credit: MyLondon/BPM MediaTopics: UK News, Passport, News