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Information about Royal Charter

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A Royal Charter is a charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the privy council, to legitimize an incorporated body, such as a city, company, university or such. A Royal Charter is a kind of letters patent. 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. A Royal Charter can also create or give 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 Hudson's Bay Company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), and the American colonies.

United Kingdom

Among the 750 or so organizations 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. [1]

A Royal Charter is the manner in which a British town is raised to the rank of 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 College of William and Mary in Virginia was granted a Royal Charter in 1693 and Dartmouth College was granted a Royal Charter in 1769, marking the first and last collegiate grants in the present-day U.S.. The most recent generation of UK universities were granted the power to grant degrees by the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992 instead of by Royal Charter, while 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. For example, the six accountancy institutes which make up the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies each have a Royal Charter which allows their members to call themselves Chartered Accountants. A Charter is not necessary for them to operate, but one is often sought as a recognition of "pre-eminence, stability and permanence".

A Royal Charter changes a body from a collection of individuals into a single legal entity. Once incorporated by Royal Charter, amendments to the Charter and by-laws require government approval. [2]

South Africa

Universities: The University of South Africa (Unisa) received a Royal Charter in 1877

Canada

Enlarge picture
The Hudson's Bay Company, building in Montreal
In Canada, there are hundreds of organizations under Royal Charters. Such organisations include charities, businesses, colleges, universities, and cities. Today, it is mostly charities and professional institutions who receive Royal Charters.

Application for a charter is a petition to the Queen in Council. To receive a Royal Charter, the organization must have corporate members who have at least first degree level in a relevant field, consist of 5,000 members or more, be financially sound, and it must be in the public interest to regulate the institution under a charter. However, meeting these benchmarks does not guarantee the issue of a Royal Charter.[1]

Companies

Canada's oldest company, the Hudson's Bay Company, was founded under a Royal Charter issued by King Charles II in 1670. By that charter, to this day the Company is required to give two elk skins and two black beaver pelts to the Sovereign or his or her heirs and successors when they visit the area originally called Rupert's Land.[2]

Cities

Cities under Royal Charter are not subject to municipal Acts of parliament applied generally to other municipalities, and instead are governed by legislation applicable to each city individually. The Royal Charter codifies the laws applied to the particular city, and lays out the powers and responsibilities not given to other municipalities in the province concerned.

Canada has four Royal Charter cities: Saint John, (the oldest, having received its charter in 1786 from King George III), Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Montreal. [3]

Universities and colleges

A number of Canadian universities and colleges were founded under Royal Charter.

From King George III: From King George IV: From Queen Victoria:

United States

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page
Several American universities which predate the American Revolution held Royal Charters.

From King George II: From King George III:

Ireland

A number of Irish institutions still have a "Royal" prefix, even though the country has been a republic since 1949.

Hong Kong

Before 1997, a number of organizations had the Royal name attached to them:

See also

Organizations

Other

External links

Footnotes

For other uses of charter, see Charter (disambiguation).


A charter is a document bestowing certain rights on a town, city, university, land or institution; sometimes used as a loan of money.
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monarch (see sovereignty) is a type of ruler or head of state. Monarchs almost always inherit their titles and are rulers for life; that is, they have no term limit. Historically monarchs have been more or less absolute rulers.
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A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically in a monarchy.

The word "privy" means "private" or "secret" thus a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on affairs of state.
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Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation. The opposite of letters patent (Lat.
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Business law
Business organizations
Basic forms:
Sole proprietorship
Corporation
Partnership
(General · Limited · LLP)
Cooperative
USA:
Business trust · LLC · LLLP
Delaware corporation
Nevada corporation
UK/Commonwealth:
Limited company
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The Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognised in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the King or Queen alone.
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Honourable East India Company (HEIC), often colloquially referred to as "John Company", and "Company Bahadur" in India, was an early joint-stock company (the Dutch East India Company was the first to issue public stock).
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Hudson's Bay Company
Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson

Private
Founded London, England May 2, 1670
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Revenue $7.0 billion CAD ($59.
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P&O Steam Navigation Co.

a DP World company
Founded 1837
Headquarters London, United Kingdom

Key people Sir John Parker (Chairman)
Robert Woods (CEO)
Industry Transport
Products Ferries, port services, logistics services, real estate:
Revenue £2.
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British colonization of the Americas (including colonization under the Kingdom of England before the 1707 Acts of Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain) began in the late 16th century, before reaching its peak after colonies were established throughout the Americas, and a
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city is an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town.

City is primarily used to designate an urban settlement with a large population. However, city may also indicate a special administrative, legal, or historical status.
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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Type Broadcast radio and television
Country  United Kingdom
Availability    National
International 
Founder John Reith
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Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in London and one of the foremost opera houses in the world. Sometimes referred to as "Covent Garden" after the London neighbourhood in which it is located, or simply as "The Garden".
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Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The interior of the third and largest theatre to stand at Drury Lane, c. 1808
Address
Catherine Street

City
Westminster, London


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The 107 Livery Companies are trade associations based in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade or profession.
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The following is a list of professional bodies in the United Kingdom. Membership of a professional body does not necessarily mean that a person possesses qualifications in the subject area, nor that they are legally able to practice their profession.
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charitable organization (also known as a charity) is an organization with charitable purposes only. Trusts, foundations, unincorporated associations and in some jurisdictions specific types of companies, may be established for a charitable purpose or may acquire such purpose
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town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. Usually, a "town" is thought of as larger than a village but smaller than a "city".
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City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The status does not apply automatically on the basis of any particular criteria, although in England and Wales it was traditionally given to towns with diocesan cathedrals.
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Inverness
Gaelic - Inbhir Nis


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Brighton & Hove (or Brighton and Hove) is a unitary authority and city on the south coast of England.

It was formed as a unitary authority on 1 April 1997 by the merger of the East Sussex districts of Brighton and Hove.
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Wolverhampton is a city in the historic county of Staffordshire and metropolian county of the West Midlands. In 2004, the local authority area had an estimated population of 239,100;[2] the wider Urban Area had a population of 251,462,[3]
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Preston, a city and local government district in Lancashire, England, is located on the River Ribble. Preston was granted the status of a city in 2002,[1] becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
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Stirling
Gaelic - Sruighlea
Scots - Streivling

Stirling City Centre

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City of Newport
Casnewydd-ar-Wysg
Newport's iconic Transporter Bridge

Arms of Newport City Council
Motto: "Terra Marique" "By land and sea"
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For the council, see .
Lisburn (Irish: Lios na gCearrbhach; meaning fort of the gamblers) is a city in Northern Ireland, south-west of and adjoining Belfast.
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Newry
Irish - Iúr Cinn Trá (An tIúr)
Gap of the North


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The Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne. It was celebrated with large-scale events throughout London, the capital of the United Kingdom, in June 2002, as well as in her other Realms, as she and Prince Philip
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Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary;<ref name="sur" /> born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of sixteen independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies.
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United Kingdom universities can be classified into 5 main categories,
  • Ancient universities - universities founded before the 19th century
  • Red Brick universities - universities founded in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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