A Speech by His Majesty The King at the Conferral of City Status, Milton Keynes

I really am delighted to be able to join you today to celebrate the conferral of city status on Milton Keynes.

As we come together on this special occasion to mark the bestowal of this honour on one of our – as it once was – new towns, we should bear in mind that it has a history as old as our nation. The Milton Keynes Hoard, one of the most significant finds of Bronze Age gold in the United Kingdom, speaks to this area having been settled for as long as communities have made their home in these Isles.  The very name, Milton Keynes, echoes that of the village which, from Saxon times, provided hearth and home for many across the generations. It is a name, as we know, that evokes the memory not only of one of our greatest poets, but also of one of our greatest economists.

It is that fine combination of lyricism and practical realism which marks out Milton Keynes today. That twenty-five percent of its urban area is covered in parkland and woodland, that there are over twenty-two million trees and shrubs across its urban spaces, that it is home to innovation through the Open University, all distinguish this new city as something special in its own right, that we can celebrate with its inhabitants at this moment in its history.

So ladies and gentlemen, as you mark your well-deserved status as one of England’s newest cities, I can only offer my heartfelt congratulations and my very best wishes for the future.