An ecclesiastical court within the Church of England has approved the inclusion of Marianne Faithfull’s signature on her gravestone, setting aside existing regulations against cursive script on memorials. Faithfull, the singer, songwriter, and actress known for her association with the Swinging Sixties and her relationship with Sir Mick Jagger, died last year at the age of 78 and was buried at St Mary’s Church in Aldworth, Berkshire.

The decision followed an application by Faithfull’s son, Nicholas Dunbar, who sought permission to incorporate an excerpt from one of her final songs alongside her engraved signature on the back of her headstone. Dunbar explained that the inscription reflects his mother’s renewed Christian faith in her later years and that the signature symbolizes her creative spirit.

The Diocese of Oxford’s regulations prohibit cursive script—defined as writing that appears to have been written in a running hand—on headstones. However, David Hodge KC, the diocese’s senior ecclesiastical judge, granted an exemption in this case. He noted that Faithfull’s signature is a vivid expression of her personality, stating, “What could be more expressive of their personality than an image of their signature?”

Although the judge acknowledged that the proposed design did not comply with the applicable churchyard rules due to the use of cursive, he determined that the regulation’s primary purpose was to maintain legibility of memorial inscriptions. In this instance, Hodge concluded that legibility concerns did not justify denying the request, given the personal and artistic significance of the signature.

The ruling permits Faithfull’s handwritten autograph to be carved into her gravestone, marking a rare instance in which the Church has relaxed its strict guidelines on memorial lettering to accommodate individual expression.