HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

The Reading Clerk reads the Letters Patent and administers the oath
of allegiance or the solemn affirmation to the new peer, who then signs
the Test Roll upon the Table. The new peer then signs an undertaking to
abide by the House of Lords Code of Conduct.
The new peer and the supporters then process in front of the Cross
Benches and turn to face the Woolsack: the senior supporter on the
spiritual side, the new peer in the centre and the junior supporter on the
temporal side. Meanwhile, Black Rod and Garter have moved to the
spiritual side of the House between the Table and the Government front
bench, facing the three peers. Together, the new peer and the supporters
bow to the Cloth of Estate.
The procession then moves up the spiritual side of the House towards
the Woolsack, with Black Rod leading, followed by Garter, the senior
supporter, the new peer and the junior supporter. On reaching the
Woolsack, the new peer shakes hands with the Lord Speaker. The
procession passes into the Prince’s Chamber through the door on the
spiritual side of the House.
The new peer and the two supporters, without robes, then return to
the Chamber, and the new peer sits for the first time in that part of the
House where he intends to sit in the future.
Lords Spiritual
The ceremony of introduction of an archbishop or bishop is broadly the
same as for Lords Temporal, but Lords Spiritual are not preceded by
Garter or Black Rod and have no Letters Patent to present.
The new bishop, in his episcopal robes (white rochet with black bands,
black chimere and scarf) and carrying his writ of summons, enters the
Chamber, preceded and followed by a supporting bishop, the junior in
front and the senior behind, likewise in their robes.
At the Bar the three bishops bow in turn to the Cloth of Estate. They
then enter the House, on the temporal side, and proceed towards the
Table. The junior bishop moves to a position beyond the Table by the
second gangway. The new bishop hands his writ to the Reading Clerk
who has moved from the first gangway to the Table. The senior bishop
halts by the first gangway.
The Reading Clerk reads the writ and administers the oath of
allegiance to the bishop, who then signs the Test Roll upon the Table.
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