Royal Liverpool? Oxymoron
 

The Royal Liverpool golf links have been in the news with the Tiger Open having been held there last week.
But isn't Royal Liverpool an oxymoron?

Oxymoron? Why?

Even the Old Labour hacks who sit on the council of the world's greatest city will be joining the celebrations next year of the 800th anniversary of the city's foundation...

...by King John.

And they'll continue to take the same pride as they've always done in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Liverpool Royal Infirmary and the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital.

Sounds like Liverpool is simply a royal town!
And before you think i'm denigrating Liverpool, i've been there several times and love the city, in spite of the rather dismal city centre architecture all too representative of the blah concrete block shopping areas endemic in many U.K. towns.
But the old docks, the Beatles associations and even the new and old cathedral are funtastic.

But it doesn't attach to the city but to each individual organisation. There's quite a palaver to get it awarded, too.

Off the top of my head, the only cities/local government entities that have it are Leamington Spa, Tubridge Wells, Kensington and Chelsea, and the Latinate version for Lyme Regis and Bognor Regis (of immortal memory). Something to do with whether or not a particular monarch enjoyed their stay, and I don't think royalty's ever stayed long in Liverpool.

I'd assumed PalQ was making the common assumption that, because Liverpool has voted more leftwing than the country as a whole since 1964, it'd be a nest of anti-monarchism.

In fact, it tends to be rather chuffed at those of its institutions - like both its posher golf clubs (Royal Birkdale is also an Open course) - that carry the "Royal" prefix.

Well, there's also the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, although I haven't seen any royals strolling down Maidenhead's High Street recently.

I understand why they call it a Royal borough (Windsor and Maidenhead) but why do they call it Royal Liverpool golf course or Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Liverpool Royal Infirmary and the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital - do or did the royals start these or fund them - can't see them funding them now so why are they called Royal - just a nice sounding word to attach to something?

QUOTE
Built in 1869, on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club, Hoylake is the oldest of all the English seaside courses with the exception of Westward Ho! in Devon, which was established just a few years earlier. Robert Chambers and George Morris were commissioned to lay out the original Hoylake course, which was extended to 18 holes in 1871. This was also the year in which the Club was granted its Royal designation thanks to the patronage of His Royal Highness The Duke of Connaught.
UNQUOTE

A bit of both. Primarily (I would guess) starting from the development of Victorian philanthropy, the label would have been formally granted by the Crown as an index of status to charitable organisations (not necessarily with public or royal funding attached, maybe with a formal agreement to act as "patron" and turn up to lay foundation stones, and that sort of thing) - as an aid to fundraising, especially for hospitals and cultural organisations.

Some educational and professional organisations will have "royal charters" which also go through Parliament as laws granting them with legal powers to award qualifications; some of these may be allowed to call themselves the Royal College of something or other, others might not bother.

For local government, it's just a bit of swank, though it still depends on formal approval by the Crown (like the occasional hoo-ha over which places are allowed to call themselves a City and which aren't). Hence Bognor, who thought they were told by George V's private secretary that he did agree to let them call the town Bognor Regis, but his initial private response was said to be negative - if alliterative, amusing and an instant folk-tale.

Some commercial organisations may just adopt it without anyone's approval as a nice-sounding name.

"Some commercial organisations may just adopt it without anyone's approval as a nice-sounding name"

Not if they want to do business. You can't register a company with the prefix "Royal" without the Queen's (or provincial assembly's) permission anymore. Which permission is practically always refused these days.

England's been a lot stricter about this than, for example, Holland for a very long time. Even if practically every commercial bank in Scotland carries the word "Royal"

Both comments very interesting. I wonder Royal Doulton is a private company - or a public company but not a royal company - i guess it must at some time have been granted a royal charter.
And i often see on British goods the words to the effect "appointed as xxxxx to her royal majesty" - is this the Crown selling or trading for free goods so that the can on whatever can carry the words "appointed as provider to royals"??

Royal Warrants are in the gift of the royal themselves. At present I think only the Queen, Duke of Edinburg and Prince of Wales can issue them.

They are basically a thank you or recommendation of a specific supplier. Many warrant holders are small businesses that deal directly with the royals, saddlemakers and the like. http://www.royalwarrant.org/Directory.asp

There’s a list here:

http://www.royalwarrant.org/Directory.asp

They are awarded for a certain amount of time and then renewed – which is why there are still companies that hold the Queen Mother’s warrant.

There was quite a fuss when the warrants were withdrawn from Harrods. Quite why people were surprised at this given tat the owner of Harrods keeps accusing the Duke of Edinburgh of murder is any ones guess.

The Royal Liverpool golf links are not actually in Liverpool but in Hoylake, which is on the Wirral Peninsula!

Local government boundaries have changed a lot in recent years, and whereas Hoylake used to be in Cheshire (as was the whole of the Wirral), it now comes under Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council http://www.wirral.gov.uk/, what we call a unitary authority independent of Cheshire County Council. Hoylake, before the local government reorganisation of 1974, was an urban district.
Hoylake has never been part of Liverpool, either the City of Liverpool or Lancashire, the county the city formerly belonged to prior to 1974.
The golf club is so called because it was founded by a group of golfers from Liverpool - just as Muirfield, in East Lothian, is offcially called the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, while Edinburgh is in Mid Lothian.

Buying things because they're "By Appointment" is strictly Hyacinth Bucket behavior.

IOW, it don't mean squat.