List of place names with royal styles in the United Kingdom

{{Short description|none}} {{synthesis|date=December 2021}} {{improve references|date=December 2021}} The following '''list of place names with royal styles in the United Kingdom''' includes places granted a royal title or style by express grant from the Crown (usually by royal charter or letters patent) and those with a royal title or style based on historic usage.

==England== ===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.<ref name=kingstontimes/> Devizes in Wiltshire, which had previously used the title without authorisation, was forced to end the practice.<ref>{{cite news|title=Royal Boroughs|date=26 April 1926|work=The Times|page=16}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Location ! Type ! Local government ! Charters ! Charter lapsed ! Notes |- | Berkshire | Royal county | County council (1889–1998)<br/>6 unitary authorities (1998–) | 1957,<ref>{{cite news|title="The Royal County of Berkshire". Title Confirmed by the Queen|date=30 December 1957|work=The Times}}</ref> 1974<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk/collections/jubilee/jubilee_story4.htm |access-date=2007-04-22 |title=Berkshire, The Royal County |author=Berkshire Record Office |work=Golden Jubilee 2002 collection |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310183151/http://www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk/collections/jubilee/jubilee_story4.htm |archive-date=2007-03-10 |url-status=dead |author-link=Berkshire Record Office }}</ref><ref>Email response{{or|date=June 2021}} from Berkshire Record Office 2 February 2006: "The Letters Patent granting Berkshire the style 'Royal County' date from 1974. However, Royal approval had been given in 1957/8 when the Queen agreed to permit the style 'Royal County of Berkshire' recognising that the term had been used for many years. The Letters Patent of 1974 merely confirmed their existing usage. The status applies to the county of Berkshire..."</ref> | {{n/a}} | Location of Windsor Castle |- | Greenwich | Royal borough | London borough council | 2012 | {{n/a}} | To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.<ref name="royal">{{cite web|url=http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/LeisureCulture/RoyalGreenwich/RoyalGreenwich.htm |title=Greenwich to become Royal Borough |date=5 January 2010 |access-date=5 January 2010 |publisher=Greenwich London Borough Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108082815/http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/LeisureCulture/RoyalGreenwich/RoyalGreenwich.htm |archive-date=8 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>Letters Patent dated 3 February 2012 {{London Gazette|issue=60205|page=13300|date=11 July 2012}}</ref> Location of the erstwhile Palace of Placentia, birthplace of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I |- | Kensington | Royal borough | Metropolitan borough council | 1901<ref>Letters patent dated 18 November 1901 {{London Gazette |issue=27378 |date=19 November 1901 |page=7472 }}</ref> | 1965 | In memory of Queen Victoria, born at Kensington Palace<ref name="rbkc">{{cite web|url=http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/vmdemocracy/general/mayor_part1.pdf|title=An introduction to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|publisher=Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|access-date=20 March 2011}}</ref> |- | Kensington and Chelsea | Royal borough | London borough council | 1965<ref name=rbkc/> | {{n/a}} | Transferred from Kensington<ref name=rbkc/><ref>{{cite news|title=News in Brief|date=7 August 1963|work=The Times|page=6}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2"|Kingston upon Thames | rowspan="2"|Royal borough | Municipal borough council in Surrey | Ancient prescriptive right, confirmed in 1927<ref name=kingstontimes/> | 1965 | Coronation place of King Æthelstan in 924–925. Æthelstan described Kingston as 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.<ref name="kingstontimes">{{cite news|title=Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames|date=27 October 1927|work=The Times|page=14}}</ref> |- | London borough council | 1965 | {{n/a}} | Transferred from municipal borough |- | Leamington Spa | "Royal" prefix | Civil parish with town council | 1838,<ref name="leamington1838">{{cite news|date=26 July 1838|work=Berrows Worcester Journal|location=Worcester |quote=Her Majesty, it is said, has graciously aceded to the request of the inhabitants of Leamington "that they may be permitted to call the Spa the Royal Leamington Spa". }}</ref> 1974,<ref name=leamingtontc/> 2002<ref name=leamingtontc/> | {{n/a}} |Spa town established in late 18th century. The town received the title of "Royal Leamington Spa" in 1838 following a visit by Queen Victoria.<ref name=leamington1838/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/0BA98CF4987C6AA78025703500371303|title=Towns of Warwickshire - Leamington Spa|publisher=Warwickshire County Council|access-date=19 March 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201060621/http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/0BA98CF4987C6AA78025703500371303|archive-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> Royal Leamington Spa was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1875, and on the borough's abolition in 1974 charter trustees were formed.<ref name=leamingtontc/> The charter trustees were themselves abolished when a town council was formed in 2002.<ref name="leamingtontc">{{cite web|url=http://www.leamingtonspatowncouncil.gov.uk/|title=Welcome to Royal Leamington Spa Town Council|publisher=Royal Leamington Spa Town Council|access-date=19 March 2011}}</ref> |- | Sutton Coldfield | Royal town | Historic town, now a civil parish within the City of Birmingham | 1528 | {{n/a}} | Honour bestowed by Henry VIII<ref name=suttonobserver>{{cite web | url= http://www.suttoncoldfieldobserver.co.uk/BREAKING-NEWS-Sutton-Coldfield-officially-Royal/story-21227462-detail/story.html | title= Sutton Coldfield is officially a Royal Town | date= 12 June 2014 | access-date= 18 June 2014 | publisher= Sutton Coldfield Observer | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140717154440/http://www.suttoncoldfieldobserver.co.uk/BREAKING-NEWS-Sutton-Coldfield-officially-Royal/story-21227462-detail/story.html | archive-date= 17 July 2014 }}</ref> |- | Tunbridge Wells | "Royal" prefix | Unparished area | 1909,<ref name=twellstimes/> 1974<ref name=twells/> | {{n/a}} |Spa town, incorporated as a municipal borough in 1888. In 1909 Edward VII allowed the prefix "Royal" in recognition of the town's connections with the royal family since the Stuart dynasty.<ref name=twellstimes>{{cite news|title=Royal Tunbridge Wells|date=3 May 1926|work=The Times|page=11}}</ref> The Borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells was abolished in April 1974, and charter trustees were briefly appointed to preserve the mayoralty of the town. The trustees, who were themselves abolished in December 1974, obtained letters patent reauthorising the prefix "Royal" to the name of the town.<ref name="twells">{{cite web|url=http://www2.tunbridgewells.gov.uk%2Fpdf%2FMayoral%2520Brochure%25202009-2010.pdf|title=Mayoral Brochure 2009-2010|publisher=Tunbridge Wells Borough Council|access-date=19 March 2011}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

|- | Windsor, also known as New Windsor | Royal borough | Municipal borough council | From reign of Henry I in early 12th century<ref>{{cite book|editor=P H Ditchfield and William Page|title=A History of the County of Berkshire|chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43180|access-date=19 March 2011|volume=3|year=1923|publisher=Victoria County History|pages=56–66|chapter=The royal borough of Windsor: The borough}}</ref> | 1974 | Location of Windsor Castle |- | Windsor and Maidenhead | Royal borough | Non-metropolitan district council (1974–1998)<br/>Unitary authority (1998–) | 1974 | {{n/a}} | Transferred from Borough of Windsor |- | Wootton Bassett | "Royal" prefix | Civil parish with a town council | 2011 | {{n/a}} | Repatriation of military personnel<ref name=bbcroyal>{{cite news | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-12757984 | title= Wootton Bassett to get 'Royal' title in war dead honour | date= 16 March 2011 | access-date = 16 March 2011 | work= BBC News}} </ref> |- | Port of Barrow | "Royal" prefix | Port | 2025<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=64859|date=29 September 2025|page=18726}}</ref> | {{n/a}} | Construction of warships and nuclear submarines for the Royal Navy<ref>{{cite web |title=PM: Barrow a blueprint for positive impact of defence spending across the country |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-barrow-a-blueprint-for-positive-impact-of-defence-spending-across-the-country |publisher=Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street |access-date=20 March 2025}}</ref> |}

====Former==== * Royal Liberty of Havering – abolished in 1892.

===Regis=== {{for|a list of places suffixed Regis|Regis (place)}} ''Regis'', Latin for "of the king", occurs in numerous placenames. This usually recalls the historical ownership of lands or manors by the Crown.<ref name=brompton>{{cite web|url=http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/index/looking_after/living_in_communities/exmoor_parishes/brompton_regis.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113201103/http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/index/looking_after/living_in_communities/exmoor_parishes/brompton_regis.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2010 |title=Brompton Regis |publisher=Exmoor National Park |access-date=19 March 2011 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=John Marius|title=Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales|chapter-url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp;jsessionid=75CF347F1EB75BA9562F0CC11261FAE9?text_id=852230|year=1870|chapter=BROMLEY (King's), or Bromley-Regis}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=565|title=King's Lynn, Norfolk|work=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth and Others|access-date=19 March 2011}}</ref>

Examples include Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire, Salcombe Regis in Devon, Bere Regis, Melcombe Regis and Lyme Regis in Dorset, Milton Regis in Kent, Beeston Regis in Norfolk, Grafton Regis in Northamptonshire, Brompton Regis in Somerset, Newton Regis in Warwickshire and Rowley Regis in the West Midlands.

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, West Sussex, allowed it to be renamed as "Bognor Regis".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bognor-tc.com/History.html |title=King George V gave Bognor the Title "Regis" |publisher=Bognor Regis Town Council |access-date=19 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904043150/http://www.bognor-tc.com/History.html |archive-date=4 September 2010 }}</ref>

===King's=== {{div col|colwidth=22em}} *Kingham *Kingsbury *Kingsclere *King's Cliffe *King's Cross *King's Heath *King’s Hill *Kingskerswell *Kings Langley *King's Lynn *King's Norton *King's Sutton *Kings Ripton *Kings Tamerton *Kings Worthy *Kingstanding *Kingsteignton *Kingston by Ferring *Kingston upon Hull *Kingston upon Thames *Kingswear *Kingswinford *Kingswood, Surrey *Winterborne Kingston *Kingsthorpe, Northampton {{div col end}}

====Somerset==== *Kingsbridge *Kingsbury Episcopi *Kingsdon * Kingston Bridge *Kingston Seymour *Kingston St Mary *Kingstone *Kingweston *Kingswood

===Queen's=== *Queen Adelaide, Cambridgeshire *Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey, Kent *Queen Camel *Queen Charlton *Queen's Park, London *Queensbury, London *Queensbury, West Yorkshire *Quendon

===Prince's=== *Princes Risborough *Princetown

==Scotland== ===King and Rìgh=== * Various places called Kingshouse * Kingdom of Fife * Dalrigh and possibly some of the places called Dalry * Portree (disputed)

Kingsburgh, Skye is a corruption of Cinnseaborgh, which is in turn a corruption of a Norse name.

In many places "Kin(g)" is a suffix meaning "head", an anglicisation of ''Ceann'': Kinghorn and Kingussie, for example, are nothing to do with royal patronage.

===Regis=== * Cramond, formerly referred to as Cramond Regis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/Places/cramond_regis.htm |title=Cramond Regis |publisher=Douglashistory.co.uk |access-date=2018-09-16}}</ref>

===Queen=== * North and South Queensferry * Queen's Park, Edinburgh

===Royal=== * "Royal" Deeside – location of Balmoral Castle

==== Former royal burghs==== {{main|Royal burgh}}

In Scotland a royal burgh was a burgh or incorporated town founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. By 1707, when the Act of Union with England and Wales came into effect, there were 70 royal burghs.<ref name="Pryde">{{cite book|last=Pryde|first=George S|title=The Burghs of Scotland: A Critical List|url=https://archive.org/details/burghsofscotland0000pryd|url-access=registration|year=1965|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford}}</ref> None were created after 1707, and they were formally abolished in 1975. Notwithstanding their abolition, the term is still used in many of the former burghs.<ref name="priv">[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldselect/ldprivi/108i/10811.htm Select Committee on Privileges Second Report, September 1999]</ref>

==Wales== ===Royal=== * Royal Town of Caernarfon. The status of royal borough was granted to then municipal borough of Caernarvon in August 1963.<ref>{{cite news|title=Court Circular|date=10 August 1963|work=The Times|page=8}}</ref> The borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the community of Caernarfon, to which the status of royal town was granted. Caernarfon was the site of the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales.<ref name=Coflein />

==Northern Ireland== ===Royal=== * Royal Hillsborough, County Down: On 1 June 2021 Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that the prefix "Royal" would be granted to the exurban village. The local Lisburn and Castlereagh District Council had requested this in recognition of Hillsborough Castle, the official royal residence for Northern Ireland, as well as to mark the centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland.<ref name="HillsboroughAnnounce">{{cite press release |title=Northern Ireland's First Royal Status Awarded to Hillsborough Village |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/northern-irelands-first-royal-status-awarded-to-hillsborough-village |author=Northern Ireland Office |website=gov.uk |access-date=1 June 2021 |language=en}}; {{cite news |title=County Down village of Hillsborough granted royal status |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-57314998 |access-date=1 June 2021 |work=BBC News |date=2021-06-01}}</ref> Letters Patent were issued and unveiled in October 2021 to effect this.<ref name="HillsboroughAnnounce"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mayor welcomes Secretary of State as Letters Patent is unveiled for Royal Hillsborough |url=https://www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/news/mayor-welcomes-secretary-of-state-as-letters-patent-is-unveiled-for-royal-h |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==See also== *Borough status in the United Kingdom *Burgh *City status in the United Kingdom

==References== <references>

<ref name=Coflein>{{cite web |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/33011/details/CAERNARFON%3B+CAERNARVON/ |title=Caernarfon; Caernarvon |work=Coflein |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |first=M. Lloyd |last=Davies |date=19 January 2009 |access-date=6 October 2012}}</ref>

</references>

Category:Places with royal patronage in the United Kingdom Place names with royal styles, List of UK Place names with royal styles Category:English royalty Place names with royal styles UK place names with royal styles Royal styles Place names with royal styles Category:Scottish royalty Place names with royal styles Place names with royal styles, List of UK