How Palace got in a spin over William and a spider
PROTECTION officers strain every sinew to keep the royal Family safe from terrorists and oddballs.
and, when it comes to the animal world, Palace officials are not taking any chances, either.
The natural History Museum’s senior curator of arachnida, Jan Beccaloni, has revealed that her plan to hand Prince William a tarantula as part of his visit to open its newest space, the £78 million Darwin Centre, provoked a major inquest.
‘There was a lot of toing and froing from the Palace, as they were concerned for the Prince’s safety,’ Mrs Beccaloni now discloses.
‘But I assured them that if the spider was dangerous, I wouldn’t want to handle it myself, let alone hand it to a member of the royal Family.’
The visit went ahead in 2009 and a reluctant-looking William was given the 8in Mexican red-kneed tarantula, which eats mice, to hold.
Mrs Beccaloni recalls: ‘There was a running joke that there would be a police marksman hidden somewhere with a rifle trained on the spider, and on the day the Prince was clearly a bit worried: he had very sweaty palms as I passed him the tarantula.’ Before his speech, William joked: ‘I’ve just lost a tarantula. If you see it, it goes by the name of sarah.’
at the event, William recalled how he was first brought to the museum by his mother. ‘Millions of others will have shared with me that same sense of awe and wonder,’ he said.
‘That whole experience sparked in me a love of the natural world. encouraged by my father, this boyhood fascination has developed into an interest in how we meet the challenges now facing us and our planet.’