Royal decree

London Guildhall University has probably never received as commanding a call to attention as the one in The Guardian last week. The university was told, along with the Home Office and the general public, to take note that all documents belonging to Thomas Ataghauma Danian remain valid despite the fact that he has changed his name to Prince Thomas Ataghauma Danian of Esan. "The decision to use my title," the prince said in his advertisement, "is the first public step towards reclaiming my ancestral heritage. My title is not an acquisition but a divine inheritance."

Prince Thomas also revealed that he is great grandson of Emuan The Terrible and that his grandmother was Princess Ehibhianu Eromosele of Irrua. A spokesman for London Guildhall University confirmed that Prince Thomas was a United Kingdom resident student of Nigerian origin who graduated with a diploma in law in 1993. He could have stayed on for his degree, a spokesman said, "but I expect sitting on a throne is a very busy occupation".