The Freedom of the City of London is one of those historical quirks that the Brits love. In the Middle Ages, it was the urban citizenship of the autonomous and self-administering City of London (which, to this day, covers only a tiny part of the overall London metropolis), liberating its holder from feudal tenure. It still exists, without any tangible benefits, although common lore has it that Freemen of the City have a right to drive sheep across London Bridge or to insist on being hanged on a silken rope if sentenced to death. It actually exists in two variants, an honorary one for Nelson Mandela-level awardees, and a non-honorary one which is accessible to average Joes like me if they know the right people to nominate them (two City of London councillors, in my case) or have a Freeman of London parent. So you go to your scheduled “freedom ceremony”, take an oath of obedience to the King and the Lord Mayor, get a handshake and collect your certificate, beautifully written on actual parchment, together with an 18th century booklet telling you how to live a virtuous life (and warning you not to claim to have been awarded the Honorary Freedom). It’s all wonderfully pointless and quirky, as such British things tend to be.
Isn’t non-honorary better than honorary ?
(I always think of “honorary” as meaning un-earned, the sort of thing
handed out to celebrities for being celebrities etc.)
Huzzah! So, do you get an honorific?
May we address you as M’lud?
Or at least The Right Honourable Schnitte?
I do hope you get a coronet of eight strawberry leaves and eight ‘pearls’ raised on stalks. And a robe having no less than three ermine tails with miniver bars…
My grandmother who was chair (never chairwoman) of the Licensed Victuallers Association in the City of London was made a Freeman of the City in the 60s. She was proud of the honour.
You would think so (as in, for instance, honorary doctorates), but not in this case. Neither the honorary nor the non-honorary freedom comes with any actual rights attached, they’re both purely ceremonial, so in this regard there is no difference. But the honorary one is usually given to very eminent honorees, whereas the non-honorary one is more broadly accessible.
I don’t think there’s any honorific attached to it, nor are there postnominals. But on London cemeteries you will often see a person’s freeman status noted on a grave, so it must have meant something to them.
That’s a shame. Unless you just add some yourself.
Now I want to make up some acronyms to put after my name. Wish I hadn’t retired, I’ve lost my excuse for having clever business cards.