My (Irish) friend was giving expert evidence to a House of Lords committee recently. She decided that they were all lords and could be addressed as such, so, following one man’s intervention, she said as “Lord X said…”. The clerk of the committee passed her a note. On it was written “viscount”.
I don’t actually see the problem here. In my teens I read a lot of Georgette Heyer so I bought a book about titles and forms of address. I’m pretty sure it said viscounts can be addressed as Lord. I do know dukes can’t. Also, you have to be careful to combine it with the right part of their name. So, as far as I remember Simon Bloggs, Viscount Salisbury, would be Lord Salisbury but not Lord Bloggs or Lord Simon.
However, it has been many years and I can’t say I’ve had much opportunity to reinforce what I learnt with use…
Nearly a month without a post. What are your loyal readers supposed to do?
I know almost all of Georgette Heyer’s regency novels off by heart and it has done me no good whatsoever, I seem to have a mental block about English titles or maybe they are deliberately confusing to deter the faint hearted.
Sibling, I’m touched that you care. Your wish is my command. Behold me springing into action.