Queen’s gift risks an icy reception

It was intended to be the Diamond Jubilee gift that would forever show the nation’s gratitude to its monarch. But the British Foreign Office has risked a diplomatic row with Argentina by naming part of Antarctica after the Queen.

Queen Elizabeth Land is a 440,000-square-kilometre slice of British Antarctic Territory stretching over twice the size of the U.K.

It will be marked on all British maps, but is unlikely to make it on to Argentine charts as Buenos Aires disputes Britain’s stake in the polar continent.

Klaus Dodds, professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, suggested it was “a calculated move to reinforce U.K. interests.”

He said: “Place-naming is one of the most powerful ways of reinforcing your sense of ownership of a territory, and the use of royalty is, in turn, the most powerful way of cementing a connection with the U.K. It’s a ratcheting up of the parlous relations between Britain and Argentina in the wake of Argentina’s attempts to disrupt the Falklands tourist industry (by banning flights to the islands).”