Editing Royal charter (section)

==United Kingdom==
{{Main|List of organisations in the United Kingdom with a royal charter}}

Royal charters continue to be used in the United Kingdom to incorporate charities and [[British professional bodies|professional bodies]], to raise [[non-metropolitan district|districts]] to [[borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]], and to grant university status and degree awarding powers to colleges previously incorporated by royal charter.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Most new grants of royal charters are reserved for eminent professional bodies, learned societies, or charities "which can demonstrate pre-eminence, stability and permanence in their particular field".<ref name=privy>{{cite web |title=Royal Charters |publisher=Privy Council |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/ |access-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014014134/http://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/ |archive-date=14 October 2011}}</ref> The body in question has to demonstrate not just pre-eminence and financial stability but also that bringing it under public regulation in this manner is in the public interest.<ref>{{cite web |title=Applying for a Royal Charter |publisher=Privy Council |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/applying-for-a-royal-charter/ |access-date=20 February 2019}}</ref> In 2016, the decision to grant a royal charter to the (British) [[Association for Project Management]] (APM) was challenged in the court by the (American) [[Project Management Institute]] (PMI), who feared it would give a competitive advantage to APM and claimed the criteria had not been correctly applied; the courts ruled that while the possibility of suffering a competitive disadvantage did give PMI standing to challenge the decision, the Privy Council was permitted to take the public interest (in having a chartered body promoting the profession of project management) into account as outweighing any failure to meet the criteria in full.<ref>{{cite web |title=Court of Appeal dismisses judicial review challenge to grant of Royal Charter |date=30 June 2016 |publisher=Withers |url=https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/court-of-appeal-dismisses-judicial-review-challenge-to-grant-of-royal-charter |access-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112450/https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/court-of-appeal-dismisses-judicial-review-challenge-to-grant-of-royal-charter |archive-date=21 February 2019}}</ref> A list of UK chartered professional associations is at {{format link|List of professional associations in the United Kingdom#Chartered}}.

Individual [[chartered (professional)|chartered designations]], such as [[chartered accountant]] or [[chartered engineer]], are granted by some chartered professional bodies to individual members that meet certain criteria. The Privy Council's policy is that all chartered designations should be broadly similar, and most require Master's level qualifications (or similar experience).<ref name="Charter FAQ">{{cite web |title=Chartered bodies |publisher=Privy Council |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/list-of-charters-granted/ |access-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203165101/https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/list-of-charters-granted/ |archive-date=3 December 2019}}</ref>

In January 2007, the UK Trade Marks Registry refused to grant protection to the American [[Chartered Financial Analyst]] trademark, as the word "chartered" in the UK is associated with royal charters, thus its use would be misleading.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trade mark application No 2226144 by the CFA Institute to register the following trade mark in class 36 and opposition to the registration under No 91541 by the Chartered Insurance Institute |date=31 October 2006 |author=Allan James |url=http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm/t-decisionmaking/t-challenge/t-challenge-decision-results/o31506.pdf |access-date=6 February 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205080643/http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm/t-decisionmaking/t-challenge/t-challenge-decision-results/o31506.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> "Charter" and "chartered" continue to be "sensitive words" in company names, requiring evidence of a royal charter or (for "chartered") permission from a professional body operating under royal charter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annex A: Sensitive words and expressions specified in regulations that require the prior approval of the Secretary of State to use in a company or business name |publisher=[[Companies House]] |date=9 August 2018 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/incorporation-and-names/annex-a-sensitive-words-and-expressions-or-words-that-could-imply-a-connection-with-government#Charter |access-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221113636/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/incorporation-and-names/annex-a-sensitive-words-and-expressions-or-words-that-could-imply-a-connection-with-government#Charter |archive-date=21 February 2019}}</ref> The use of "chartered" in a [[collective trade mark]] similarly requires the association applying for the mark to have a royal charter as otherwise "the mark would mislead the public into believing that the association and its members have chartered status".<ref>{{cite web |title=Certification and collective marks |work=Trade marks manual |publisher=[[Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom)|Intellectual Property Office]] |date=14 January 2019 |url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trade-marks-manual/certification-and-collective-marks#initial-examination |access-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221115141/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trade-marks-manual/certification-and-collective-marks#initial-examination |archive-date=21 February 2019}}</ref>

Unlike other royal charters, a charter to raise a district to borough status is issued using statutory powers under the [[Local Government Act 1972]] rather than by the royal prerogative.<ref name="Charter FAQ"/>

The [[Companies House|company registration number]] of a corporation with a royal charter is prefixed by "RC" for companies registered in England and Wales, "SR" for companies registered in Scotland, and "NR" for companies registered in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Company Registration Number Formats |format=DOC |website=HMRC.gov.uk |url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/gds/com/attachments/coy_reg_no_formats.doc |access-date=30 January 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713001134/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/gds/com/attachments/coy_reg_no_formats.doc |archive-date=13 July 2018}}</ref> However, many chartered corporations from outside England have an RC prefix from when this was used universally.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The [[BBC]] operates under a royal charter which lasts for a period of ten years, after which it is renewed.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}