Ah ETA ignore this. Anthea also wears a ring on the right hand. Interesting. Do the masons not wear a ring on their right hand?
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He wears a ring on his right hand
In Britain this mainly indicates a same sex marriage
But it can, I believe, indicate widower status.
Either are possible, I guess (though I think its obvious which the show hints at). What I find interesting is that a. he has or has had a significant relationship b. he wishes to be open about this and c. if it is a same sex relationship it is highly unlikely, even in uber-tolerant Sherlock alternative reality world, to be one of conveniance.
In Britain men do not always even wear wedding rings. He could certainly be married without wearing a ring, so the only reason to wear it is a. either that he sees it as politically helpful or b. that he cares enough to take the hit.
All this falls away if he is widowed, I guess, or if he's using widowerhood as the pretext for the ring. But, yk, on seeing a ring on the right hand I think most in the know Brits would assume a same sex marriage.
So this says to me that there is someone he cares about as well as Sherlock. Given this its interesting that we never see this person, that they are never referenced. Every single character that meets him must wonder and wonder how this intergrates with him as the "Ice Queen".
And given this, why do Irene and Moriaty use Sherlock to get to Mycroft? Not whoever this person is he wears a ring for?
(I've read that it was actually a production mistake-that the ring was left on by accident. But note he's still wearing it in later scenes, and still on the right hand. I've just run a check on google images and he's wearing it whenever we see his right hand, so my guess is that they decided to run with it and I want to see where they are going. Aside from anything, the idea that the man who "is the British government" is married to another man is a really splendid coup for tolerance. I think.)
Last edited by beekeeper (March 29, 2013 2:52 pm)