The act also admitted women to membership of the house. Depending on the terms in which a peerage was originally granted, some cannot be held by a female and others cannot be transmitted through a female line of succession. Only a handful of hereditary peers have been created since 1965. The last was the Duke of York in 1986, although the last non-royal hereditary peer to be created was the Earl of Stockton two years earlier. The robes worn in the House of Lords date back to the 15th century.
Peers have two types of ceremonial robes.
One is worn for the coronation, the other are parliamentary robes of state. Robes are worn at the state opening of parliament and by the Royal Commission for the dissolution of parliament, to which five peers are appointed. The robes of state, which have white bands of miniver with scarlet and gold, differ according to the rank of the peer. Robes are also worn when a peer is introduced to the house in a ceremony which dates back to the 17th century. A peer by succession who is not an elder son must have his claim established.