Among his many famed tales of philantropy and kindness, there is one Ratan Tata story that stands out. It is the the tale of the Indian industrial tital deciding to ditch an invite frim the English royal family at the last minute.
The story goes like this. In 2018 King Charles III of the United Kingdom (he was Prince Charles back then) wanted to facilitate Ratan Tata for this exceptional philanthropic work. The British Royal decided to hand Tata a lifetime achievement under the auspice of the British Asian Trust. All arrangements were made at Buckingham Palace on February 6, 2018, to welcome Tata. Told in advace about the event, Ratan Tata was indeed delighted to attend the event in person and receive the award.
However, Ratan Tata cancelled the trip to England at the last minute for personal reasons.
The 'personal reason'
The industrialist's pet dog fell ill ahead of his trip to Buckingham Palace. The prestigious trip to be honoured by the British royal family was second to the well being of his darling pets for the stalwart businessman.
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"Tango and Tito, his dogs, one of them had fallen terribly ill. I can’t leave him and come," Businessman, columnist and actor Suhel Seth later famously revealed what Tata told him over the phone. Seth was reportedly in London for the award event -- only to get a call from the recipient himself confirming that he wouldn't be coming!
But the story doesn't end there. When Prince Charles came to know about Tata's reason for skipping the event, he was not surprised at all. “That’s a man. That’s the man Ratan is. That’s why the house of Tata is what it is. That’s why it’s on stable course,” Seth recalled Prince Charles as saying.
