Why being a city in the United Kingdom is a matter of royal decree

Food & Drink · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: City status in the United Kingdom is not a reward for population size or urban sprawl. It is a purely honorary title granted by the monarch through letters patent. While once tied to the presence of an Anglican cathedral, today it serves as a prestigious marker of local pride and history.

The designation of a city in the United Kingdom is a ceremonial distinction that carries no formal legal powers or specific administrative rights. Historically, the criteria for this status shifted significantly over centuries. During the 16th century, King Henry VIII established a precedent by linking city status to the presence of a diocesan cathedral, a practice that persisted in England and Wales until the late 19th century. This connection was eventually severed in 1889 when Birmingham, a large municipality lacking a cathedral, successfully petitioned for the title based on its robust local government and significant population.

The process of creating cities has often been inconsistent and subject to evolving royal policy. Throughout the 20th century, the Home Office frequently resisted new applications to maintain the exclusivity of the honour. For instance, after a surge of grants in the late 1800s, King Edward VII and his successors implemented stricter, often private, criteria to limit the number of new cities. Exceptions were occasionally made for royal occasions or to commemorate specific historical ties, such as the 1919 grant to Leicester or the 1951 award to Cambridge. By the 1970s, local government reforms threatened to dissolve the status of many ancient cities, necessitating the issuance of new letters patent to preserve their titles.

Today, the process has transitioned into a competitive model, with towns invited to bid for city status during major royal milestones, such as the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2022. This competition is open to a wide range of applicants, including those in overseas territories. Despite the prestige, the title remains distinct from the physical reality of a place; large towns with hundreds of thousands of residents may lack the status, while small, historic settlements retain it. Ultimately, the title is a symbolic recognition of a community's identity, ensuring that even as local government boundaries shift, the historical dignity of these places is formally acknowledged by the Crown.

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