Picture caption gaff
A newspaper covering King Charles’ visit to Gray’s Inn this week has inadvertently mistaken former Supreme Court President Baroness Hale for an “affable member of staff”.
Baroness Hale, who retired from the Supreme Court in 2020, is one of the UK’s most high-profile former judges and has become something of a cult figure amongst lawyers and law students.
The Beyoncé of the legal profession is known for her much studied judgments in Stack v Dowden and Miller II, where she wore a spider brooch when delivering the latter September 2019 ruling that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful.
The former legal Supreme is photographed alongside High Court Master Eastman sharing a laugh with King Charles on his visit to Gray’s Inn where Hale was first called to the bar back in 1969. The image was captioned by the Daily Mail “an affable member of staff shared an earthy laugh with the King during a reception at Gray’s Inn”.
The blunder was first spotted by Joel Semakula, a barrister at Landmark Chambers, who himself fell victim to the newspaper’s caption gaffs. The paper described as one of the “eager young fans” studying at the new City junior school.
I understand there are far worst things to be called in the Daily Mail than “eager young fan” studying at the Junior School
Not sure I would have gone with “affable member of staff” for the former president of the Supreme Court though
At least we can all have an “earthy laugh” pic.twitter.com/Ylwg3gCnkQ
— Joel Semakula (@JKSemakula) November 25, 2022
At least one commenter suggested the caption could refer to barrister and bench master Roger Eastman, who can been seen standing alongside Hale. Either way, “staff” seriously underplays both their positions within the profession.