Baroness Mone doesn’t understand her own title

[992234177]

Baroness Mone used the following email signature.   If I got an email from her I’d think she was a scammer in a call centre.   'Kindest Regards, Lady Michelle Mone OBE, Baroness of Mayfair, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW'

[thomasdc...@gmail.com]

An example of everything connected with the peerage being smashed and made worthless by those who inherited a beautiful and precise system.

[Paul Theroff]

That is a battle already lost. All we can do is keep the old, proper forms in our own postings here, but cannot expect that the wider public will do so. We cannot stop the tide.

I don't know where it started, but the press is magnifying and perpetuating such errors, and we can be sure that that will not stop. Google "Lord Stanley Baldwin" or "Lord Max Beaverbrook" and you will see how widespread this new modern usage is, not only in blogs and other informal things, but in respected newspapers, journals and books.

And of course in many obituaries these days we find people such as "Lady Mary Smith", only to find that the lady is the wife of a knight or even a peer, and is not daughter of a duke, marquess or earl. I haven't noticed what most posters in this group do with such names, but when I post them I usually put the "Lady Mary" in quotation marks to show that it was not I who wrote the name that way.

Even government sources no longer bother to use the older forms. Here is one example: one can find "Lady Julie Sandwich" in an official government record here:

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1000142/trustees

So there's not much use criticizing Lady Mone for this, especially when she's been involved in so many worse controversies recently.

[Paul Theroff]

After I had posted my reply, I realized that you might have been focusing more on the "Baroness of Mayfair" part of her signature than on the "Lady Michelle" part. That is, indeed, an unusual variation, even in these lax modern times!

On Wednesday, November 12, 2025 at 3:42:01 PM UTC-6 992234177 wrote:

[Jonathan]

Had she so wished, "Mayfair" has never been used for a peerage title, so she could have chosen the title Baroness Mayfair, and she would no doubt stay in an expensive hotel after passing Go.

[992234177]

My biggest issue is that it’s not someone referring to her, it’s Baroness Mone herself who doesn’t know who she is.   Don’t get me wrong if I had a peerage I would have a sparkly new coat of arms, headed writing paper with a coronet and a cypher, and an email signature, but mine would say, Baron Woowarrwoo of HooHarr or Lord Woowarrwoo.   I might politely say call me Benjyboy but benjyboy wouldn’t be printed anywhere.   Not knowing it makes her look silly like she doesn’t know how the House of Lords works.   And that makes her look silly and unprofessional.  A very small red flag but it is a red flag, as it is when any broadcaster dealing with politics gets it wrong.

[Jonathan]

992234177, I fully agree with what you are saying, but would also add that sometimes when it seems a broadcaster has got it wrong, it's actually the peer him- or herself who doesn't use their own title correctly. The style guides for many news organisations will say something along the lines that they should use someone's preferred form or name or title, even if it's technically incorrect. One example I can think of is Lord Harris of Haringey, who without fail styles himself "Lord Toby Harris". I have seen him appear on TV, both with a caption introducing him like that and the presenter doing the same. The broadcaster isn't really at fault as they are following their own style guide. Other times, I suspect it's the broadcaster at fault, though. For example, when reporting on Peter Mandelson's resignation as ambassador, they "knew" that he's a lord, so they called him "Lord Peter Mandelson". The BBC News website is bad for this, although when Lord Hall of Birkenhead was their director-general, they always got his name right ("Tony Hall" or "Lord Hall [of...]", never "Lord Tony Hall").

[Jonathan]

 I spoke too soon. Today, BBC News have an interview with their former director general, and presumably the guidance on how to refer to him was withdrawn once he was no longer DG, as they refer to him as "Lord Tony Hall".