Following the recent passing of Patricia Routledge, pop culture guru David Ferguson is taking a deep dive into one of her most famous roles, the deliciously camp Hyacinth Bucket.

The recent passing of the wonderful Patricia Routledge got me thinking about her most famous role, Hyacinth Bucket (it’s pronounced Bouquet). The character appeared in Roy Clarke’s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, which ran for five series from 1990 to 1995.

Routledge decided to end on a high and wanted to move on to other projects. 30 years later, the character still resonates with people, with various clips regularly appearing on social media, more so after Routledge’s recent passing. However, one question springs to my mind: could Hyacinth be considered an LGBTQ+ icon?

For starters, the character does seem to have a large queer fanbase. She also has a unique sense of style, with her floral dresses, often accompanied by hats, which she insists on showing off to the neighbours. In one instance, she tells her long-suffering husband Richard to “Drive very slowly past number 23. I want her to see my hat.”

On another occasion, she deliberately throws holiday brochures, featuring trips on the QE2 and the Orient Express, out the car window, just so another neighbour would see them. She tries to gain standing with people whom she considers upper class, inviting them to her notorious “candlelight suppers.” She also brags about her sister Violet, “the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony.”

Her high standards extend to telling her milkman that she wants her glass milk bottles back (as she is the only one who can clean them properly) and inquiring if she can get her milk from some cows she saw on a fancy country estate.

Her life is often full of family drama. Hyacinth’s sister Violet is constantly having marriage problems, which include her husband Bruce trying to keep her clothes for himself. Hyacinth tries to ignore these issues and prevent her sister from getting a divorce. Besides Violet, there is her man-hungry sister Rose, who is constantly having man trouble (usually with married men) and has her eyes set on the local married vicar.

Of course, there is a queer member of the Bucket family – her beloved son Sheridan who never appears – though Hyacinth is oblivious. We only hear Hyacinth’s side of their phone calls on her “white, slimline telephone with last number redial facilities.” Hyacinth believes they have a “psychic bond” as she feels that he always seems to call when she needs her spirits raised but, as Richard usually guesses, he is usually calling for money. However, Hyacinth won’t hear a word against him.

Sheridan lives with his friend Tarquin, and it is heavily suggested they are in a relationship. On one phone call, he asks for £70. Hyacinth replies, “Now you’re not spending it on girls, are you, dear? You promised Mummy. We agreed not until after you’ve finished your education (….) Oh, you and Tarquin aren’t interested in girls. What a comfort that is to a mother’s heart, dear.”

So with her unique sense of style, all her drama and her appeal to the LGBTQ+ community, I think we should consider Hyacinth Bucket a gay icon. After all, only a gay icon could come out with this line: “If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s snobbery and one-upmanship. People trying to pretend they’re superior. Makes it so much harder for those of us who really are.”