Q. You recently gave your opinion that it is correct
to address the son of a baronet with his title as soon as his father has died, quoting the principle. 'The King is dead. Long live the King!' This is not so. There is quite a complicated procedure that has to be gone through, and it involves both time and money. It culminates in a recommendation to the Home Office from the Garter King-ofArms that he is satisfied that the claim of the son (or other kinsman) has been proven. The Registrar of the Baronetage then places his name on the official roll of the Baronetage and informs the new baronet. I believe that it is a common decency to the deceased to wait at least until after the funeral before promoting an heir to his new status.
Name and address withheld A. You have asked that your name and address be withheld, but I have seen with my own eyes that you are a baronet, and you are right to point out that my reply deserves greater elaboration. The full answer is that the heir becomes the new baronet the moment his predecessor dies: at the moment his father died, Edward VIII, on hearing the clocks chiming the wrong time at Sandringham, declared, 'I'll fix those bloody clocks.' Yet, while it is a polite convention, it is by no means a rule that he should not assume the title until after the funeral, and it doesn't stop another person using it to address him.
A real pedant might not assume it until he has formally registered his claim, but this might be because some confusion as to when to begin using a newly acquired title sprang up in the days when an honour given on the honours list did not become yours until you actually had had the sword on your shoulder. So many people died between the announcement and the accolade that Harold Wilson brought in the new rule that they be operative immediately on verbal bestowal.
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