24 MAY 1986, Page 23

Hairarchy

Sir: As your correspondents suspect (Let- ters, 17 May, Diary, 10'May), moustaches are uncanonical in a clergyman. When Cosmo Lang was made Archbishop of York in 1908, King Edward VII gave him the following advice: 'Keep the parties in the church together and prevent the clergy wearing moustaches.' As so often, the Supreme Governor of the Church of Eng- land showed more wisdom than the 'pro- fessionals'.

B. C. Pryor

39 Henson Road, Reading, Berks