WPP chief Martin Sorrell has been given the freedom of the City of London by the lord mayor and other bigwigs. The purely ceremonial honor comes with a number of bizarre privileges dating back to medieval times. Among them is the right to herd sheep over London Bridge. Other rights Sorrell now has include:
- To go about the City with a drawn sword.
- To be married in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
- To be buried in the City.
- If convicted of a capital offense, to be hanged with a silken rope.
- To avoid being press-ganged (i.e. forced to work on a ship).
- To be drunk and disorderly without fear of arrest.
Past “freemen” include The Queen, Florence Nightingale, Dwight Eisenhower and Theodore Roosevelt.
