The transvestite artist and potter Grayson Perry arrived at Buckingham Palace today for his investiture as a Commander of the British Empire looking fabulous in a midnight blue dress and an enormous hat.
The provocative ceramacist, who was honored by Prince Charles in today's ceremony, also carried a sensible-looking black handbag of the sort the Queen often uses.
Mr. Perry, who was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003, is a noted and provocative ceramacist who has said in interviews that he liked to dress in women's clothes from an early age.
At the age of 15 he began to go out in public dressed as a woman, and was thrown out of his family home.
There is a strong autobiographical elements into his work, in which images of Perry dressed as "Claire," his female alter ego, often appear.
Perry told a reporter for the Daily Telegraph: ''When I got the call (about the CBE) my first thought was what am I going to wear, it's a serious thing I'm not going to compromise my identity as Britain's pre-eminent transvestite. I googled to see what people wore and went for the sexier end.
''I always do like the older woman who makes an effort.''
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said that Perry's ''attire was entirely appropriate''.
