Lady Barrowman? Sorry, just stick with Lady Mone
Former bra boss Michelle told she can’t change her peer name
IT led the case for gender equality at the top of industry and the push to have more women on boards.
But reform at the House of Lords only goes so far – as Scots bra tycoon Baroness Mone of Mayfair has found to her cost.
The newlywed peer is understood to have asked to change her title following her wedding last month to fellow Glaswegian douglas Barrowman, 55.
However, after being informed that she would need the Queen’s permission to do so, she decided to bend the rules to suit herself.
The 49-year-old started calling herself Lady (Michelle Mone) Barrowman on Instagram.
Yet another version of her new title – Baroness Barrowman – was used on her Twitter feed.
Both have now been reverted back to Lady Mone. Made a Tory life peer by the then Prime Minister david Cameron in 2015, she opted to take the title Baroness Mone, the surname of her former husband, Michael Mone, and the father of her three children.
Three weeks ago, after having to cancel her wedding plans four times because of lockdown restrictions, she wed multimillionaire Mr Barrowman in a ceremony at Peel Cathedral, on the Isle of Man, where they have a home. Before their original wedding date in May, she sought clarification on the rules over a possible name switch.
The Queen’s adviser on heraldry, Thomas Woodcock, known as Garter King of Arms, said: ‘I can sympathise with her and see the problem but I’m afraid in the House of Lords she will continue to be Baroness Mone.
‘You can change your surname as much as you like, but can’t change the form of a title.’ only the Queen can authorise a change to a peer’s title, or ‘nomen dignitatis’.
Mr Woodcock said: ‘You can’t decide to be the duke of somewhere else because you didn’t like the first one. Women are in a more difficult position, I agree, because they are known by their husband’s name and it is unfortunate when they get divorced. But she is not a floating Baroness.
‘It would be a ridiculous situation if peers could change their name on a whim or when they married. I can’t think of a case where anyone has changed their name, except when they have been given more senior title.’
Yesterday, a spokesman for Lady Mone said: ‘Lady Mone knows exactly what the procedures are within the House of Lords. She has two names, Lady Mone oBE, and Mrs Michelle Barrowman oBE.’