Royal Mint scraps National Trust commemorative coin, calling the charity a 'troubled and political organisation'

The Royal Mint has dropped plans to issue a commemorative coin marking the 125th anniversary of the National Trust, after the charity is called a 'somewhat troubled and political organisation' at meeting held by the Royal Mint's sub-committee.

Official papers obtained by The Independent reveal disputes about volunteers being asked to wear gay pride badges and the word “Easter” being removed from its Easter egg hunt contributed towards the reason behind the cancellation of the coin.

The National Trust was accused by volunteers of infringing on their rights after staff at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk were told to wear gay pride badges to mark 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 2017.

Over 75 volunteers at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk supposedly disputed the order, which required them either to wear the rainbow ID badges or be relegated to backroom jobs.

This caused the trust to reverse their decision to make wearing the badges mandatory for those in public duties.

The findings from the minutes of the Royal Mint’s sub-committee meeting, chaired by a Conservative peer, read: 'The theme was not approved. 125th was not a good anniversary. Judged to be a somewhat troubled and political organisation.'

The charity was also criticised in 2017 after it banned the word Easter from its annual egg hunt, which had been called the 'Easter Egg Trail' for the past ten years but was renamed the 'Great British Egg Hunt' to appeal to non-Christians