Flag row Royal Albert Hall apologises for visitor refusal

The chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall has apologised to an 81-year-old concertgoer who was stopped from entering the auditorium because he had a Palestine flag pin in the lapel of his blazer.

- Diane Taylor

Roger Cauthery and his wife, Angele, from north London, were attending a BBC Proms concert at the venue in Kensington last Friday featuring the pianist Yunchan Lim.

After the couple showed their tickets and had their bags searched in the foyer, two contractor staff spotted the lapel pin and said he would not be allowed into the concert because he was wearing it. One of them asked a colleague stationed at one of the entry doors to the auditorium not to let Cauthery in.

The couple were left standing in the foyer for 15 minutes before a supervisor arrived, overruled the earlier decision and said the couple could attend the concert after all.