List of place names with royal patronage

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The following list of place names with royal patronage includes both those granted a royal title or status by express wish of a specific monarch, and those with prefixes or suffixes such as "King's" or "Regis" that relate to historic ownership of the area by the Crown.

Royal

The following places have been explicitly granted or confirmed the use of the title "royal" by royal charter, letters patent or similar instrument issued by the monarch. Since 1926 the entitlement to the title "royal borough" has been strictly enforced.[1] Devizes in Wiltshire, which had previously used the title without sanction, was forced to end the practice.[2]

  • Berkshire, since 1957, has held the title of "Royal county".[3] Royal approval was given when the Queen agreed to permit the style 'Royal County of Berkshire' recognising that the term had been used for many years.
  • Caernarfon was made a royal borough in 1963, to mark the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales.[4]
  • Royal Deeside, so called as since the reign of Queen Victoria the British Royal Family have spent their summers at Balmoral Castle.
  • Greenwich was made a royal borough in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[5] [6]
  • Kensington was made a royal borough in 1901[7] in memory of Queen Victoria, born at Kensington Palace.[8] This honour has subsequently been applied to the district of Kensington and Chelsea.
  • Kingston upon Thames has been a royal borough by ancient prescriptive right, confirmed in 1927.[1] It was the coronation place of King Æthelstan in AD 924/5. Æthelstan described Kingston as a royal town in a charter, as did Eadred later in the 10th century. In 1927 the mayor of Kingston upon Thames petitioned George V for the right to use the title of "royal borough". In reply to the petition the king declared that Kingston was entitled to the status, having been described as a royal borough since time immemorial.[1]
  • Leamington Spa has used the "Royal" prefix since 1838,[9] following a visit by Queen Victoria.[9]
  • Sutton Coldfield has used the "Royal" prefix since 1528, an honour bestowed by Henry VIII. [10]
  • Tunbridge Wells has used the "Royal" prefix since 1909. In that year Edward VII allowed the prefix "Royal" in recognition of the town's connections with the royal family since the Stuart dynasty.[11]
  • Windsor, also known as New Windsor, has been a royal borough from the reign of Henry I in the early 12th century[12] The honour has subsequently been applied to the district of Windsor and Maidenhead.
  • Wootton Bassett has used the "Royal" prefix since 2011 in recognition of the town's involvement in the repatriation of military personnel.[13]
  • Royal Liberty of Havering

In Scotland a royal burgh is a burgh or incorporated town founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. There are 70 royal burghs.[14]

Regis

Regis, Latin for "of the king", occurs in numerous placenames. This usually recalls the historical ownership of lands or manors by the Crown.[15] The "Regis" form was often used in the past as an alternative form to "King's", for instance at King's Bromley and King's Lynn.[16] There is one modern example of the granting of the suffix "regis". In 1929, George V, having spent several months recuperating from a serious illness in the seaside resort of Bognor, Sussex, allowed it to be renamed as "Bognor Regis".[17]

King

Queen

Prince's

Rìgh

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames". The Times: p. 14. 27 October 1927. 
  2. "Royal Boroughs". The Times: p. 16. 26 April 1926. 
  3. ""The Royal County of Berkshire". Title Confirmed by the Queen". The Times. 30 December 1957. 
  4. "Court Circular". The Times: p. 8. 10 August 1963. 
  5. "Greenwich to become Royal Borough". Greenwich London Borough Council. 5 January 2010. http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/LeisureCulture/RoyalGreenwich/RoyalGreenwich.htm. Retrieved 5 January 2010. 
  6. Letters Patent dated 3 February 2012 London Gazette: no. 60205, p. 13300, 11 July 2012.
  7. Letters patent dated 18 November 1901 London Gazette: no. 27378, p. 7472, 19 November 1901.
  8. "An introduction to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/vmdemocracy/general/mayor_part1.pdf. Retrieved 20 March 2011. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Berrows Worcester Journal (Worcester). 26 July 1838. "Her Majesty, it is said, has graciously acceded to the request of the inhabitants of Leamington "that they may be permitted to call the Spa the Royal Leamington Spa"." 
  10. "Sutton Coldfield is officially a Royal Town". Sutton Coldfield Observer. 12 June 2014. http://www.suttoncoldfieldobserver.co.uk/BREAKING-NEWS-Sutton-Coldfield-officially-Royal/story-21227462-detail/story.html. Retrieved 18 June 2014. 
  11. "Royal Tunbridge Wells". The Times: p. 11. 3 May 1926. 
  12. P H Ditchfield and William Page, ed (1923). "The royal borough of Windsor: The borough". A History of the County of Berkshire. 3. Victoria County History. pp. 56–66. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43180. Retrieved 19 March 2011. 
  13. "Wootton Bassett to get 'Royal' title in war dead honour". BBC News. 16 March 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-12757984. Retrieved 16 March 2011. 
  14. Pryde, George S (1965). The Burghs of Scotland: A Critical List. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
  15. "Brompton Regis". Exmoor National Park. http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/index/looking_after/living_in_communities/exmoor_parishes/brompton_regis.htm. Retrieved 19 March 2011. 
  16. Wilson, John Marius (1870). "BROMLEY (King's), or Bromley-Regis". Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp;jsessionid=75CF347F1EB75BA9562F0CC11261FAE9?text_id=852230. 
  17. "King George V gave Bognor the Title "Regis"". Bognor Regis Town Council. http://www.bognor-tc.com/History.html. Retrieved 19 March 2011. 
  18. http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/Places/cramond_regis.htm

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