Your Mayor

History of the Royal Borough

The Royal Borough title was granted to Kensington Borough Council by Royal Charter on 20 November 1901. Queen Victoria awarded the title in recognition of her birthplace. Letters patent conferred the use of this royal title on 7 April 1964.

Kensington and Chelsea Council received its Charter of Incorporation as a London borough on 10 March 1964. Before this, Kensington and Chelsea were separate metropolitan boroughs (Royal Borough of Kensington and the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea) dating back to 1 January 1900.

Coat of arms 

The College of Arms granted the Council’s Coat of Arms on 10 December 1965.

The shield comprises:

• three Crowns on ermine symbolising the royal status of the borough
• an Abbot’s Mitre signifying links between Kensington and the Abbey of Abingdon, and Chelsea with the Abbey of Westminster. These connections date back centuries

The crest consists of a broom bush. This represents the link between the two former boroughs of Kensington's 'Brompton' ward. This area is part of the Chelsea constituency. In medieval times Brompton was famous for its gorse fields. The name was a corruption of ‘broom tun’, a gorse farm.

The supporters are a blue boar and a silver winged bull:

• the boar is taken from the Arms of the De Vere family, Lords of the Manor of Kensington for 500 years.
• the winged bull is associated with St Luke, the patron saint of the ancient Parish of Chelsea.

The motto 'Quam Bonum In Unum Habitare' is the 133rd Psalm in Latin, which roughly translates to: ‘What a good thing it is to dwell together in unity’.

Mayoral robes

The Mayor wears a robe of office on ceremonial occasions. For example, for Remembrance Sunday commemorations and during the ‘Mayor Making’ ceremony when a new Mayor is elected.

Maces

The Mace is the symbol of the power of dignity of the Mayor and of their authority. It is carried by the macebearer in front of the Mayor on ceremonial occasions. 

Kensington Mace

Presented by Alderman Lewis Isaacs in 1901 to the Royal Borough of Kensington, the Kensington Mace is 47 inches in length. The mace head has a floral and matted decoration with four shields incorporating the Coat of Arms. Decorating the head is a crown with bead mounted arches, surmounted by an orb and cross. The baluster and fluted stem chased work is decorated with floral spiral bands with the end broadening and chased with acanthus leaf.

Chelsea Mace

Presented by The Rt Hon George Henry Cadogan KG, 5th Earl Cadogan and 1st Mayor of Chelsea, to the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea in 1900, the mace is 48 inches in length. The mace has a thistle formed head chased with flowers and engraved panels bearing the Coat of Arms of the former Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea. The mace is surmounted by a crown with Fleur-de-Lys and Maltese Cross rim and four arched beams with an orb and cross at the summit. The baluster stem chased with spiral ornament and rosette leads to a fluted quatre-foil decorated base.

Mayoral chains and badges

The Kensington mayoral chain

The chain has 18 shield medallions with the names of successive Mayors of the former Royal Borough of Kensington. Originally, the chain had 7 K’s affixed to symbolise ‘Kensington’, but upon the merger with the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea in 1965, the chain now has four K’s and four C’s added to symbolise ‘Chelsea’. The centre front links have two maces on either side of a blue enamel shield.

The Kensington and Chelsea mayoral badge 

The badge is worn with the Kensington Chain and Chelsea Chain and features an enamel shield bearing the borough’s coat of arms with three crowns, an Abbot’s mitre and the council’s motto: ‘Quam Bonum In Unum Habitare’.

The Chelsea mayoral chain

The chain has 18 shield medallions with the names of successive Mayors of the former Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea with 18 pierced scrolled links. This chain is traditionally worn when the Mayor has an engagement in Chelsea.

The Chelsea mayoral badge

Presented by The Rt Hon George Henry Cadogan KG, 5th Earl Cadogan and 1st Mayor of Chelsea, to the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea in 1900, the badge was historically worn with the Chelsea chain when the Mayor had an engagement in Chelsea.

The badge is centred by an enamel shield bearing the coats of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea and the engraved inscription of the borough’s motto: ‘Nisi Dominus Frustra’ which translates to ‘Unless God be with us, all will be in vain’.