It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance.
Nineteenth century, the bastion of women’s lib.
Women are permitted to go topless in Liverpool provided they work as a clerk in a shop selling tropical fish.
Urban legend? No one on the Liverpool City Council will give credence to a law along these lines. Seems like there must have been a story behind this one…
Any whale washed up on the shore is the property of the Queen, so she can use its bones for her corset.
The head of said whale, however, belongs to the King. This law dates back to 1307. The original law read something along the lines of “The King shall have throughout the realm, whales and great sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm, except in certain places privileged by the King.”
It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
Anyone who dies in Parliament is entitled to a state funeral. Rumor has it that if you appear sick, they escort you out quickly! Yet another law that was still on the books until a massive “cleanup” of archaic laws was performed in 2012.
Anyone entering the Houses of Parliament while wearing a suit of armor is liable to be arrested.
This law was passed in 1279, as the Houses of Parliament were meant to be a civilized, non-violent place.