You don’t have to be rich and famous to get the royal treatment, according to one Australian traveller.
Three letters was all Arthur Birch said he needed to be treated like a king on Nigerian airline Air Peace.
The former parking inspector from western Sydney was organising a flight from the nation’s capital Abuja to Lagos.
He claims to have ‘accidentally…on purpose’ given himself the title prefix as HRH for His Royal Highness when making the booking.
A Nigerian armed guard (right) who escorted Arthur Birch (left) to the airport on Monday posed with for photos with his VIP passenger
Mr Birch ‘accidentally…on purpose’ gave himself the title prefix as HRH for His Royal Highness when booking his flight. Pictured is his boarding pass
He claims the simple trick worked and resulted in ‘the royal treatment’.
‘The Australian High Commission arranged for me to be picked up from my hotel in Abuja to be transported back to the airport in a fully armoured high security vehicle with an armed escort and even my luggage was protected,’ Mr Birch wrote online.
The Daily Mail could not confirm the claims with the Australian High Commission in Nigeria or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
But Mr Birch can be seen pictured with one of the armed guards who escorted him to the airport.
‘Even my luggage (pictured) was protected,’ Mr Birch claimed to the Frequent Flyers Australia Facebook group
Mr Birch attached the photos and his boarding pass to his Facebook post to prove he wasn’t joking about the stunt.
‘Nice trick. Can anyone do it?’ one man commented.
Mr Birch joined NSW Police in 1997 where he worked as a parking patrol officer until the role was taken over by local councils in 2002.
In a 2011 blog titled Parking Meter Man, Mr Birch calls himself as ‘Australia’s Meanest Parking Cop – and he is on your side.’
Mr Birch also wrote the book Not Guilty Your Worship on how to get out of parking fines.
‘Nice trick. Can anyone do it?’ one man commented when Arthur Birth took to social media (post pictured)
The former parking inspector from western Sydney (centre) is now a jetsetter
‘You do not have to prove your innocence, the prosecution have to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and they will never do that – while there are officers out there issuing parking and traffic infringement notices for the incorrect offences, or not proving the offence has been committed,’ he revealed on his blog.
He also represented Australia at the Jack Daniels Invitational World Barbecue Championship in the US state of Tennessee in 2011.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Birch said he was in Nigeria to represent Australia in another BBQ competition.
An armed escort accompanied Arthur Birch on his trip from the hotel to the airport
The Australian High Commission arranged for Arthur Birch (pictured centre) to be picked up from his hotel in Abuja to be transported back to the airport in a fully armoured high security vehicle