Grayson Perry plans on wearing a dress to receive knighthood: ‘They’re very cool at the Palace’
Posted by  badge Boss on Jan 17, 2023 - 04:45PM
Grayson promises not to outshine other honourees (Picture: Chesnot/Getty Images)

Sir has said he will contact his dressmaker ASAP to create an outfit for him to wear to when he receives his knighthood.

The 62-year-old artist, writer, and broadcaster, who is known for his tapestries, ceramic works, and cross-dressing, was made a Knight Bachelor for services to the arts in the New Year Honours list.

The date for the event is yet to be confirmed, but once it is Sir Grayson has said he will get a dress made pronto.

The self-proclaimed ‘tranny potter’ is always keen to explore fashion, conformity, and prejudice, and appears in public as his female alter-ego, Claire.

In the interview with, Sir Grayson said: ‘They’re very cool at the Palace, in my experience.’

‘I have intuition around the language of dress, by which I mean to say, I’m pretty expert. There is a line, I wouldn’t go dressed as a clown,’ he added.

The artist holding his CBE when Grayson last visited Buckingham Palace in 2014 (Picture: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

He recalled the last time he arrived at in 2014 to receive his CBE in his ‘mother of the bride’ outfit.

The policeman at the security checks asked him to open the bonnet, to which Sir Grayson replied: ‘Oh, crikey, I don’t think I’ve ever opened the bonnet on this car, I don’t know how it works.’

‘The policeman, quick as a flash, looked at my wife and went, “typical woman!”‘ he said.

But Sir Grayson refuses to pick a side in the online culture war surrounding gender fluidity and identity, despite claiming gender-critical groups had ‘tried’ to get him onboard.

Grayson has been married to columnist Philippa Perry since 1992 (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

‘I politely ignore it. I annoy both sides and say no, I’m not getting into that one,’ he said.

‘The minute you declare sides, that basically dominates your media profile and it’s just boring. Let the discourse rage.

‘There’s a lot of language policing going on and a literalness I think the internet seems to encourage. Words become flags and there are a lot of battles out there.’

As for his knighthood outfit, Sir Grayson told us all not to worry – he won’t outshine other honourees on the day, which include Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Queen guitarist Brian May.

Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times.