diamond geezer

 Friday, February 03, 2012

It's an exciting morning to be a southeast Londoner. Yesterday Greenwich was just an ordinary London borough with housing officers, street sweepers and self-important councillors. But this morning it's awoken as the Royal Borough of Greenwich, complete with official charter from Her Majesty the Queen, in commemoration of her Diamond Jubilee. How chuffed must the mayor be to have this honour bestowed during his period of office. How thrilled must councillors be to run a bigger name borough than measly Southwark, Lewisham, Croydon or Bexley nextdoor. And how proud must local residents be now that their very existence is suddenly more important through royal recognition? Yeah, that proud.

Changes are afoot locally in order to recognise Royal borough status. The borough has a new royal crest, complete with royal bits on the shield and everything. New street signs are being erected (they say "Royal Borough of Greenwich"). The council website (now royalgreenwich.gov.uk) is getting a makeover, complete with a section of crest as a background graphic. And this weekend Royal Greenwich residents can celebrate with fireworks, and historical re-enactments, and a big parade, and even a drop-in lantern-making workshop. Here's the celebratory timetable, by royal appointment.

Friday 3rd February (Woolwich): 4:30pm Festivities begin in General Gordon Square, 6:30pm Mayoral speech, followed by ten minutes of fireworks
Saturday 4th February (Eltham): 10am-2pm Historical activities and free entry at Eltham Palace, 5pm Festivities begin at the Tudor Barn, 6pm fireworks
Sunday 5th February (Greenwich): 10am-6pm Historical activities in and around the Old Royal Naval College, 5pm Grand Royal Greenwich Parade, 6pm fireworks

But Royal Greenwich boasts no current royal palaces. The area merits its royal borough status thanks solely to past glories, most especially during Tudor times. Henry VIII was born in Greenwich, and twice married here. His children Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth I were all born at the palace, which is also where poor Edward died. Then there's the Royal Dockyard, and the Royal Naval College, and the Royal Observatory, not to mention the Royal Blackheath Golf Club. And if that's not enough, the Queen Mother visited in 1978 to open the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as an increasingly tangential heritage page on the council's website proudly bears witness.

It's rare too, this royal moniker. Only two other London boroughs share the honour, a couple more in the Home Counties, and not terribly many more outside the capital. Here's the full list of British locations with nominated royal patronage.

Boroughs: Royal Borough of Greenwich (thanks to the Diamond Jubilee assignation), Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (because Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace), Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (because it was the coronation place of King Æthelstan in 925AD), Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (because of Windsor Castle)
Counties: Royal Berkshire (because of Windsor Castle)
Towns: Royal Town of Caernarfon (because of the castle), Royal Leamington Spa (because Queen Victoria visited the spa in 1838), Royal Tunbridge Wells (in recognition of the town's connections with the royal family since the Stuart dynasty), Royal Wootton Bassett (because some of the townspeople paid their respects to repatriated armed forces coffins for a few years)

Meanwhile it can't be long now until an official announcement is made of the name of Britain's newest city. This is another Diamond Jubilee-related honour, and the winner will be one of the urban districts on the following list:

Would-be Diamond Jubilee cities: Bolton, Bournemouth, Chelmsford, Colchester, Coleraine, Corby, Craigavon, Croydon, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dudley, Dumfries, Gateshead, Goole, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Perth, Reading, Southend, St Asaph, St Austell, Stockport, Tower Hamlets, Wrexham.

I think we can all agree it won't be Goole (the City of Goole, whatever were councillors thinking?). And it definitely won't be Tower Hamlets either, firstly because no committee would ever award the second Jubilee honour to anywhere adjacent to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and secondly because the City of Tower Hamlets is an entirely ridiculous, almost megalomaniac, concept. The previous new city announcement, for the Golden Jubilee in 2002, was made in mid-March, so maybe we've a few weeks to wait yet. But the smart money is on Reading, currently 8/11 favourite following a recent spate of suspiciously big wagers, with Perth in second place at 5/1 and Medway at 8/1. And then, seriously, Tower Hamlets is the fourth favourite at 9/1?!? Surely Her Majesty has more wisdom, in her old age, than to bestow Jubilee honours on a second patch of inner city urban sprawl?

posted 07:00 :

<< click for Newer posts

click for Older Posts >>

click to return to the main page

...or read more in my monthly archives
Jan24  Feb24  Mar24  Apr24  May24  Jun24  Jul24  Aug24  Sep24  Oct24  Nov24  Dec24
Jan23  Feb23  Mar23  Apr23  May23  Jun23  Jul23  Aug23  Sep23  Oct23  Nov23  Dec23
Jan22  Feb22  Mar22  Apr22  May22  Jun22  Jul22  Aug22  Sep22  Oct22  Nov22  Dec22
Jan21  Feb21  Mar21  Apr21  May21  Jun21  Jul21  Aug21  Sep21  Oct21  Nov21  Dec21
Jan20  Feb20  Mar20  Apr20  May20  Jun20  Jul20  Aug20  Sep20  Oct20  Nov20  Dec20
Jan19  Feb19  Mar19  Apr19  May19  Jun19  Jul19  Aug19  Sep19  Oct19  Nov19  Dec19
Jan18  Feb18  Mar18  Apr18  May18  Jun18  Jul18  Aug18  Sep18  Oct18  Nov18  Dec18
Jan17  Feb17  Mar17  Apr17  May17  Jun17  Jul17  Aug17  Sep17  Oct17  Nov17  Dec17
Jan16  Feb16  Mar16  Apr16  May16  Jun16  Jul16  Aug16  Sep16  Oct16  Nov16  Dec16
Jan15  Feb15  Mar15  Apr15  May15  Jun15  Jul15  Aug15  Sep15  Oct15  Nov15  Dec15
Jan14  Feb14  Mar14  Apr14  May14  Jun14  Jul14  Aug14  Sep14  Oct14  Nov14  Dec14
Jan13  Feb13  Mar13  Apr13  May13  Jun13  Jul13  Aug13  Sep13  Oct13  Nov13  Dec13
Jan12  Feb12  Mar12  Apr12  May12  Jun12  Jul12  Aug12  Sep12  Oct12  Nov12  Dec12
Jan11  Feb11  Mar11  Apr11  May11  Jun11  Jul11  Aug11  Sep11  Oct11  Nov11  Dec11
Jan10  Feb10  Mar10  Apr10  May10  Jun10  Jul10  Aug10  Sep10  Oct10  Nov10  Dec10 
Jan09  Feb09  Mar09  Apr09  May09  Jun09  Jul09  Aug09  Sep09  Oct09  Nov09  Dec09
Jan08  Feb08  Mar08  Apr08  May08  Jun08  Jul08  Aug08  Sep08  Oct08  Nov08  Dec08
Jan07  Feb07  Mar07  Apr07  May07  Jun07  Jul07  Aug07  Sep07  Oct07  Nov07  Dec07
Jan06  Feb06  Mar06  Apr06  May06  Jun06  Jul06  Aug06  Sep06  Oct06  Nov06  Dec06
Jan05  Feb05  Mar05  Apr05  May05  Jun05  Jul05  Aug05  Sep05  Oct05  Nov05  Dec05
Jan04  Feb04  Mar04  Apr04  May04  Jun04  Jul04  Aug04  Sep04  Oct04  Nov04  Dec04
Jan03  Feb03  Mar03  Apr03  May03  Jun03  Jul03  Aug03  Sep03  Oct03  Nov03  Dec03
 Jan02  Feb02  Mar02  Apr02  May02  Jun02  Jul02 Aug02  Sep02  Oct02  Nov02  Dec02