Annals of etiquette.

Same-sex marriage has raised serious moral questions, but what about the problems it creates for the rules of protocol? Two stories surfaced recently:

1. In South Africa, where an eleven-judge panel has legalized same-sex marriage, the question on everyone's lips was, who will pay the "lobola," an obligatory transfer of bride wealth, when there's no bride? Given the absence of lobola, Chief Holomisa doubted the legitimacy of such a union.

2. In the UK, the marriage of Sir Elton John to his longtime companion David Furnish provoked the question of how to address the husband of a knight. Clearly, calling him "Lady Furnish" wouldn't do. The editor of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage offered "Laddy" as a jokey alternative, admitting that there was no provision on the books for this eventuality.