Posh department store Fortnum and Mason has apologised for a “failure of communication” after Paralympians weren’t invited to a party at the palace.
Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes were jointly hosted at a Buckingham Palace reception with the King this week to celebrate their success at the Paris Olympics.
But Zac Shaw, a visually impaired sprinter, and his partner, Ali Smith, also a sprinter, said the Paralympians weren’t invited to the after party. He said he trawled through his emails and a friend told him about the event. But when he couldn’t find anything he assumed it was for Olympians only.
Zac - who won silver in the 4x100m and bronze in the 100m T12 - said it was “hurtful” and “unfair” not to have been invited to Thursday’s after-party. He said it was an example of how the two sets of athletes are treated differently.
He said: “It’s just hurtful and I mean you have situations like this honestly so frequently, whether it’s brands, prize money, even hosting a Paralympic race at a competition. You have to pick your times to actually call it out.
“For me yesterday being under the same roof as the King and all the Olympic and Paralympic medallists and in one place, but the Paralympic medallists have to get in the car and drive home while the Olympic medallists get to enjoy a four-hour after-party with champagne bottles with their name engraved into it. It’s just unfair.”
According to a screenshot posted by Zac on Instagram, a spokesperson for Fortnum & Mason apologised and said there is a separate event for Paralympians “in the works”.
The message said: “There is a separate reception for Paralympians in the works here at Fortnum’s which will be announced soon. We are really sorry that we could not do both of the planned parties together, which would have been our preference, but we are restricted on space and simply could not have fitted everyone in at the same time.
“However, there has been a failure of communication on our part here and we are truly sorry. We really hope to make it up to you when we get everyone together to celebrate. Thank you for your patience and we will get back to you personally with the details soonest.”
Zac said the response was “not good enough at all” and that he felt it had made it worse. He said he initially contacted London based Fortnum privately but went public on social media when they did not respond. “I just put a tweet out and didn’t expect anyone to interact with it. It’s been nice to see how many people with disabilities or not have come to the same conclusion that it’s not equality.”
His original post said: “Hi @Fortnums, as you’re aware, the Olympic and Paralympic medalists were invited to Buckingham Palace yesterday. It would be nice to understand why you hosted an after party for the Olympic medalists but made the decision not to invite the Paralympic medalists? Why?”
Another post said: “A couple of Paralympians turned up to the event and asked to be let in. I can assure you no Paralympian were invited. Olympians got a personalised Champagne bottle. If any Paralympian got goody bags it was most likely from the stock cupboard because the staff felt guilty. This photo was at Buckingham Palace. Olympic and Paralympic athletes were invited there together.
“But the invites for the after party hosted by @Fortnums were exclusively for Olympians. I couldn’t travel back with my training partner as they were invited to the event and I wasn’t.”