# Brits: Why do you have a "Royal Navy" but a "British Army"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133 "2007-03-30T17:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/1 "2007-03-30T17:01:58Z")
The British navy is called the “Royal Navy,” but I’ve never heard the British army called the “Royal Army.” Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/2 "2007-03-30T17:13:00Z")
Interesting. My speculation is that this is due to the fuedal roots of the British Army. The king didn’t fund and directly control the army, various aristocrats did. But the navy was funded and controlled directly by the monarchy. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/3 "2007-03-30T17:16:58Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/4 "2007-03-30T17:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] … [/QUOTE] Isn’t the edit function great? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/5 "2007-03-30T17:38:59Z")
Yes, not all units of the British Army have royal patronage historically. Those that do bear the royal title as individual regiments, The Queen’s Own Hussars, the Royal Artillery, etc. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/6 "2007-03-30T17:50:24Z")
It also may have lost any royal associations after the rise of the New Model Army and Cromwell, what with the beheading and all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/7 "2007-03-30T17:59:45Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] It also may have lost any royal associations after the rise of the New Model Army and Cromwell, what with the beheading and all. 😃 [/QUOTE] The most interesting thing about King Charles I is that he was 5’6" tall at the start of his reign, but only 4’8" tall at the end of it… ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/8 "2007-03-30T18:22:42Z")
Unlike the Royal Navy and the RAF, the Army started not as a unified force but a collection of separate miltary units, some with royal patronage, others not. So it was not called the “Royal Army” because not all of it was “Royal”. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/9 "2007-03-31T01:17:49Z")
And as to the reason why it’s simply the _Royal Navy_ instead of the _Royal British Navy_ like some other navies (Royal Swedish Navy, Royal Australian Navy, etc) is that it was the first navy to use the “royal” style. Ditto for the Royal Air Force. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/10 "2007-03-31T04:17:57Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] The most interesting thing about King Charles I is that he was 5’6" tall at the start of his reign, but only 4’8" tall at the end of it… [/QUOTE] That osteoporosis is a bitch. [Richard Brandon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brandon) (assuming it was him), on the other hand, was respectful, but just as efficient. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/11 "2007-03-31T16:34:27Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] That osteoporosis is a bitch. [Richard Brandon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brandon) (assuming it was him), on the other hand, was respectful, but just as efficient. [/QUOTE] Actually, it was [Blackadder.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackadder:_The_Cavalier_Years) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-have-a-royal-navy-but-a-british-army/398133/12 "2007-03-31T18:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] The most interesting thing about King Charles I is that he was 5’6" tall at the start of his reign, but only 4’8" tall at the end of it… [/QUOTE] …because of.. OOOOOOOLIVER CROMWELL, LORD PROTECTOR OF ENGLAND(Puritan!), BORN IN 1599, DIED IN 1658 (September!)… I looove that song!