Royal Charter
From Free net encyclopedia
A Royal Charter is a charter given by a monarch to legitimize an incorporated body, such as a city, company, university or such. In medieval Europe, cities were the only place where it was legal to conduct commerce, and Royal Charters were the only way to establish a city. The year a city was chartered is considered the year the city was "founded", irrespective of whether there was settlement there before.
In the Commonwealth Realms a Royal Charter is a charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy Council, which creates or gives special status to an incorporated body. It is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative.
At one time a Royal Charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means such as the registration of a limited company are now available. Among the historic bodies formed by Royal Charter were the British East India Company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), and the American colonies.
Among the 400 or so organisations with Royal Charters are cities; the BBC; theatres such as the Royal Opera House and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane; Livery Companies; Britain's older universities; professional institutions and charities.
A Royal Charter is the manner in which a British town is raised to the rank of British city. Most recently Inverness, Brighton & Hove and Wolverhampton were given their charters to celebrate the millennium, and Preston, Stirling, Newport, Lisburn and Newry to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.
Some of the older British universities operate under Royal Charters, which give them the power to grant degrees. The most recent generation of universities were granted this power by the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992 instead. Some other universities operate under Acts of Parliament.
The BBC operates under a Royal Charter which lasts for a limited period of ten years, after which it is renewed.
Most Royal Charters are now granted to professional institutions and to charities. A Charter is not necessary for them to operate, but one is often sought as a recognition of "pre-eminence, stability and permanence".
A number of Irish institutions still have a "Royal" prefix, even though the country has been a republic since 1922.
See also
- List of UK organisations with royal patronage
- List of Australian organizations with royal patronage
- List of Canadian organizations with royal patronage
- List of New Zealand organizations with royal patronage
External links
- Privy Council website
- Royal Charter of the BBC
- Charter of the University of Birmingham
- Royal Charter of Rhode Island (1663)