Frank Skinner: British Library ‘bullies’ humiliated my Samuel Pepys-loving nephew, 6, when they refused to show him the writer’s famous diary

• Skinner claimed staff refused to show his nephew Samuel Pepys’s famous diary
• He also claimed an employee quizzed the six-year-old on Pepys’s date of birth  

Comedian Frank Skinner has hit out at so-called ‘bullying’ staff at the British Library for humiliating his six-year-old nephew during a recent visit.

The star claimed Elliott, who has a passion for the Great Fire of London and the writer Samuel Pepys, was left ‘crestfallen’ when an officious employee refused to let him view Pepys’ world-famous diary.

To add insult to injury, the staff member also insisted on putting the child’s knowledge of Pepys to the test by asking him to state the writer’s date of birth.

Skinner, whose wife Cathy Mason is the sister of Elliott’s mother Rachel, recounted his nephew’s ordeal in a recent edition of his show on Absolute Radio.

He said: ‘They took him to the British Library to see Samuel Pepys’ diary, which is a nice idea I thought. So, they got there, and the guy said something like – the usual British Library thing – ‘We’ve got it, but you can’t look at it.’

Comedian Frank Skinner (pictured) has hit out at so-called ‘bullying’ staff at the British Library for humiliating his six-year-old nephew during a recent visit

Skinner said that the staff member insisted on testing Elliott –whose father is Jack Thorne, writer of the play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child – when a female family member tried to plead the boy’s case.

The star added: ‘She said, ‘He’s a bit of a fan of Samuel Pepys,’ and the guy said, ‘When was he born?’

‘Elliott didn’t know and he went from pride to crestfallen. What’s gone wrong with the British Library? A great institution.

‘Do you think the real staff are in a backroom with their hands tied behind their back and sticking plaster over their mouths…?

‘A six-year-old kid all proud that he knew who Samuel Pepys was. You bullies.’

Skinner also criticised the central London library for refusing him permission to film items in its collection relating to Alexander Pope for his upcoming Sky TV documentary about the 18th Century poet. He said both experiences had led him to view the library in a different light.

He added: ‘Can I say that, in essence, I love the British Library and I have had many, many happy times there.

‘But it’s gone orf [sic] terribly.’

Skinner’s criticisms are still available in a podcast based on the show, Child Catcher-Outer.

Last night, a spokesman at the British Library said: ‘We always want to provide a warm welcome to all our visitors at the library so we were sorry to hear that Frank’s nephew had a disappointing experience on his recent visit here.’

The spokesman added: ‘We have reached out to Frank to offer Elliott and his family a behind-the-scenes tour with one of our curators, which we hope will make amends.’ Mr Skinner was last night unavailable for comment.

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