Mary Beard 'down to my scrappy undies' at Heathrow security
The airport apologises after the academic strips down to her "little black vest, no bra", which she says is "not a good look".
Wednesday 30 October 2019 19:32, UK
Heathrow has apologised to Professor Mary Beard after the expert on ancient Rome had to strip "down to my scrappy undies" at airport security.
The famous classicist tweeted that she was a "bit surprised" to be told to take off "what I think is a 'tunic'".
But security thought the garment was a "jacket", she continued, and so she was down to her "little black vest, no bra", which she described as "not a good look" and "much to curiosity/embarrassment of other passengers!"
"I know rules are rules [and we all depend on airport security]," she wrote, describing herself as "tough".
Heathrow said it was "sorry to hear this and [we] apologise for the experience you have had".
It added: "Could you please DM us with further details regarding your experience with our security so that we can look into the matter?"
The professor replied: "I have no desire to see the staff concerned told off [so I am carefully not telling you which terminal]. But maybe some general consciousness raising on this one would be a jolly good idea!"
The airport said it had "immediately started working on awareness with our security colleagues".
Replying to someone who tweeted their concern, Professor Beard said: "To be honest I'm not very easily humiliated, but it was a surprise! Staff polite but insistent [following instructions, I guess, don't want to get them into trouble]."
Another tweeter said she'd "had this too", adding: "Ended up standing there in a very thin vest top and jeans minus belt and shoes. I must look suspicious."
A Heathrow spokesman later said: "Our colleagues work incredibly hard to keep Britain's skies safe and any passenger is able to be searched in private. We apologise that this did not happen in this instance."