Santa Claus is no longer welcome in Britain. Or in Britains’ historic buildings, anyway. He’s just way too Ameican! Or so says Britain’s National Trust, the agency which runs over 300 historic buildings ranging from homes to castles and forts.
According to the Evening Standard, an employee at the Trust emailed internal guidance on the matter to several members of the press, on accident. The email read, “Can you change ‘Santa’ to ‘Father Christmas?’ I know you’ve used ‘FC’ later on, but National Trust guidance is never to use Santa.”
The organization says it’s a ban on Santa per se, it’s more a matter of consistency. “Contrary to any speculation, the National Trust is not looking to ban Santa, Saint Nick or Santa Claus,” reads a spokesperson quote from The Telegraph, “We recognize the gift-giving, jolly man with the beard goes by many names all over the world, but we try to stick to one, and for many years that has been Father Christmas.”
Perhaps what’s more disturbing is the fact that the organization openly believes the concept of Father Christmas aligns better with their noble cause. Apparently, it is “lower class to call him Santa” and very clearly marks one as a non-Brit and a non-Anglo-Saxon.
Oh, well. I bet hoity-toity Father Christmas would find it beneath him to pose with some costumed pooches, unlike our man of the people Mr. Santa Claus.