Peers’ headwear may get the chop after it is called old hat
THE tradition of doffing and wearing bicorn and tricorn hats in Parliament could be scrapped after the Speaker of the House of Lords decided it was “outdated”.
Lord Fowler suggested the change at a meeting of the Lords’ procedure committee in a move which has sparked alarm among traditionalists who said he was doing it “for the sake of it” and trying to “emulate” the modernising reforms of ex-speaker John Bercow.
Traditional tricorn and bicorn hats are worn in the Lords at all Royal Commission ceremonies including the prorogation of Parliament and the election of a new speaker in the House of Commons.
Female commissioners – such as Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, the Leader of the Lords – wear tricorn hats while male commissioner – such as Lord Fowler as Speaker – wear bicorn hats.
The rule is broken by Robert Buckland, the Lord Chancellor, who wears a tricorn hat regardless of his sex.
A friend of Mr Buckland, who sported a full-bottomed wig and his tricorn hat at the recent swearing-in of Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the new Speaker, in December, said he would look “very dimly” on Lord Fowler’s plans.
The friend said: “This is a petty act of iconoclasm. Surely the Lords have better things to do – like reducing their numbers?” The male commissioners are expected to doff their hats to MPs when they enter the chamber but female commissioners do not.
A memo to the committee – seen by The Sunday Telegraph – said: “The Lord Speaker and other members who have been involved in the ceremony have requested that the committee consider supporting the removal of the hat wearing and doffing elements of the ceremony on the grounds that the practice is outdated.”
Any change recommended by the committee will have to be agreed by the Queen. One Westminster source said: “It would be a pity if there was a tampering with our constitution just for the sake of it. The public like the oddities in the House of Lords, certainly more than they like recent efforts to frustrate Brexit.”
Sir John Hayes MP, a former Conservative security minister who has a collection of a dozen hats at home, said: “These are the kinds of oddities that make Britain special. Why would anyone want life to be more bland than it already is?”
Sir Edward Leigh, a Tory MP who claims to sport a French-style beret around his home at weekends, added: “All gentlemen should wear hats.”