Did you know...

There are only 66 cities in the UK?  Unlike the US -- where states are broken into counties which are broken into cities -- in the UK city status is granted by the Crown, and there are no formal requirements.  In fact, "city" is an honorific title, and grants no additional powers or funding.

Of those, 30 have a "Lord Mayor" (Lord Provost in Scotland) instead of a regular mayor.  Again, this is a purely ceremonial title, although it makes for a cool parade in London in November.

In addition, there are six areas of royal "patronage":

• The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (granted by Henry I in the 12th century)
  
• Royal Leamington Spa (1838)
• The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (1901)
  
• Royal Tunbridge Wells (1909)
• The Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames (1927)
• Royal Town of Caernarfon, in Wales (1963)

Later this year, Wootton Basset will also be granted a "Royal" patent.  When the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, the Royal Air Force base in Wiltshire became the main transport hub, which included repatriating the bodies of fallen servicemen. The bodies would then be driven to a hospital in Oxford, passing through the small town of Wootton Bassett, where many of the townspeople would line the streets in respect.  Unfortunately, the subsequent media exposure turned this into a bit of a circus, with protestors and spectators gathering as well, but it was still a very sweet gesture. (Ironically, shortly after the Royal patent is granted the military base will be closed, and the processions will move elsewhere.)

Since 1992, city status has been granted by competition, with 3 for the millenium and 5 for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.  As part of the Diamond Jubilee next year, one town will be granted city status, and one city will be granted Lord Mayor status.  In addition, Greenwich (of GMT fame) will become a Royal Borough.

Of course, over the past thousand years there have been many towns with royal patronage, but as towns became cities, or were merged into other cities, these royal patents were not renewed.  In particular, the 70 royal burghs in Scotland were formally abolished in 1975.  (In fact, the Local Government Act of 1972 abolished all local authorities outside London, establishing the two-tier counties and districts, which were in turn abolished duriing the 1990s, where "unitary authority" was granted to most counties.)