Originally Posted by
Justapax1
I don't know why he did that, a Consul has the authority to issue an Emergency Passport valid for one trip, which you can exchange for a full passport when you get home. He or she doesn't have the authority to disburse funds which leaves a mugged DBS (Distressed British Subject) able to travel but without the funds to take a tube fare out of the aeroport. In these days of credit cards it's less of a problem, but in the days of cash and cheques the Consul would have to issue a tenner out of his own money against an IOU, and these were often not honoured. (My father was a British Consul).
I don't know, can't remember, all the answers but he was extremely helpful, I think our bank wired funds to the Embassy, certainly I don't recall going to a bank. The biggest issue was persuading a police officer to complete a form with the box "vol" as opposed to "perdu", so that we could board our return flight.