Spike becomes an Irish citizen
In 1962, the British Government refused to renew Spike's
passport because they did not consider him a British citizen.
They told him he could apply for citizenship, but this
required swearing an oath to the Queen, which Spike refused
to do.
By this stage, Prince Charles was one of Spike's
biggest and probably most famous fan.
"Prince Charles even sent him a letter saying, ‘Come
on, you know, I had to swear allegiance to the Queen and
it's not that painful for God's sake'
and Spike wrote back and said, ‘Well, it's okay
for you, she's your mum'."
Shelagh Milligan
So Spike set out in search of a country that would have
him as citizen without him having to grovel…
Spike really felt he deserved British citizenship unconditionally,
after serving for six years in the British Army.
When it became apparent they wouldn't make it that
easy, he went to the Irish Embassy and said, "Can
I be Irish?"
Spike's brother Desmond Milligan recalls that the
Irish Ambassador, Aamon Kelly, spoke to Spike personally
and said, "Oh, you're that bloke on the telly.
Of course you can become an Irish citizen. We're terribly
short of people".
A bottle of whisky and the passport followed.
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