American Reacts Why British cities make no sense 

One thing that they didn't mention in the video was how Southend-On-Sea gained its city status. It was listed as happening in 2022, but it technically wasn't part of the Platinum Jubilee honours. Their long-time local MP Sir David Amess had been campaigning for Southend to become a city for many years. He was assassinated by a terrorist in October 2021, before the deadline. Just 3 days later the Government announced the Queen had agreed to give Southend the status in his memory. The Official Letters Patent were signed in January 2022 - the 8 cities that got it as part of the Jubilee were announced in May.

When I was growing-up, we were told in school that a city had to have a cathedral. Now it just seems to be a large town but I think still has to be 'given' city status by the monarch, can you believe?

Small joke that might go over your head if you've not been to the UK but made me chuckle. When they talk about Lord Salisbury they used the font/colouring of the UK supermarket Sainsbury's.

Best thing on that list was "Synchronise car indicators". Judging by the cars I encounter on most roundabouts, few cars even have the installed.

As a child we holidayed in St. David's each year . . . it' was great

As someone who lives in Ipswich,.. That gave me a good chuckle.

Sheffield has a really quite good university actually. Have friends who went there for various courses from medicine and biomedical sciences, to computing, maths and accounting.

14:26 You need to go back and read that whole list. It's got lots of good things, e.g. number 34, 70, 72, 83, 89

St David's with a polpulation of circa 1500. I live in a village of 15000+

I'm English born and bred and have learnt from this video.. And I'm guessing that many other brits like myself have also learnt because many of us don't know the real reasons why things are as they are when it comes to city status and how it comes to be

I love how he paused on the definition of Mayor when it is clearly a rubbish definition. I guess you don't know until you look a bit more closely, but right next to it is the definition of Meddle: Thing that kids do to stop janitors or fairground owners getting away with it.

There was a very old law which laid out the status that cities had to have to qualify for this status. I was taught this at school in 70s UK. I don't remember it all but there were 8 qualification's. A cathedral, guildhall,tithe barn,priory, charter for taxes, etc I do remember at the time there were only 2 cities left qualifying by these old rights in Europe. Moscow and Carlisle UK.

A Cathedral has a Cathedra (basically a chair that the bishop sits on - think throne you'll get the idea) - It is the main church that the smaller ones 'answer to' in the area (diocese) - Unbelievably I live in a parish (originally this area would be registered to the local church - now its an administrative area) and has it's own little governance under a local authority - so on top of local council tax (Think city taxes for your property) I also have to pay what is called a parish rate on top. All this means in reality is that we pay more for the same services with an added layer of councillors for the local area who have premises and budgets from that - all collected by the district

I remember being in class in 1992, secondary school. We were asked in Geography to name a city, so I said Sunderland. The teacher then started to try and state it was NOT a city, though he didn't know the monarch is the one who makes a city, this being in brief. It was made a city on HRH QERII's 40th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. The incident was after this declaration and so I argued with the teacher who berated me, to then fall foul and find out I was actually right. Yes this teacher taught it was meaning a city could only be a city if it had a cathedral, to which you have learned this is NOTY the case. So much for the teacher knowing anything.

Hidden joke in the video.. How a city becomes a city is equally convoluted and elaborate in germany.. some small towns of 3000 peole are offically a city cause they were important in the 14th century and some large places with 20.000 people are still officially not cities.. but unlike the UK, being a city or not actually matters in germany... more local powers, more funding etc..

6:04 Wow I’m impressed that you can read what was in the letter. To me it is blur.

Brilliant! Great send-up!

With 385,000 folks within my own town, it has yet to be classified as a city! Been long overdue. I agree it makes no sense! 😏

As ever, these clever Englishmen have forgotten that Scotland has its own legal system, and its own Established Church that is not the same as the law or the Established Church in England, Wales or Northern Ireland; hence the rules are similar, but not the same in these countries! They are incorrect to say that Bangor has no cathedral, it does - of the dis-established [Anglican] Church-in-Wales. Likewise, the [Established] Church of Scotland has no cathedrals anyway - even though it uses a few ancient cathedral buildings that are still called cathedrals even though they haven't enjoyed that status for more than 500 years. It therefore makes no sense to highlight Stirling and Dunfermline as having no cathedrals, as they lie within a country that doesn't have cathedrals anywhere. Back in England, their explanation that the church was where all the powers were in olden times includes the examples of Ely, Bath & Wells, and St Alban's Cathedrals, yet St Alban's Abbey did not become a cathedral until 1877 - AFTER the connection between cathedrals and cities was ended! They mention Perth in terms of economic growth post 2012 when it was awarded city status, but without reference to the fact that from 1210, it had always had city status until the local government reorganisation that became effective in 1975; and that during the 2012 ceremony, Queen Elizabeth II actually acknowledged that it had never been the intention that Perth should lose its city status... This has major implications for dozens of other Scottish places that had "Royal Burgh" status by the Royal Charters issued by King David I and other early Scottish Kings - especially those like Perth, Dunfermline, Elgin and St Andrews that had described themselves as "City and Royal Burgh of (name)". While the Local Government Acts of the early 1970s did abolish Royal Burgh Councils, their names and 'status' lived on through their continued use of 'Royal Burgh' in their formal names. As all the Royal Burghs had Royal Charters entitling them to be known as such (and usually, with rights to trade and hold markets, etc.,) some believe that these had the same status as English Cities with such Royal Charters or Letters Patent in more modern times. Others argue that Dundee was the first formally constituted 'city' in Scotland when Queen Victoria issued Letters Patent confirming her decision to award it city status in 1889. Running somewhat against that theory is that the Scottish Cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow were "cities by tradition." Basically this meant that because they "since time immemorial" been universally thought of as cities and described as such - irrespective of whether any Royal Charter or Letters Patent had ever existed; they did in fact enjoy Honorary city status! If this were so, then it almost certainly also included Perth, which was regarded as Capital of Scotland until 1437, when James I was murdered in that city. Right up until 1975, The Lord Provost of Perth enjoyed precedence only to his Edinburgh Counterpart. As both Dunfermline and Stirling also enjoyed periods as permanent royal residences in the days of Absolute Monarchy, there is also some argument in them being held in similar regard.

I like those two guys.. Funny as fuck... Natural comedians

Im pleased St. David's got its ancient city status back , the people there had been fretting for 150 years now they can rest in peace , witu no more rioting , pitch forks and torch burnings .

pausing the advert to explain the advert

We had Mayor's in Wolverhampton long long before we had city status

Sheffield has two Universities. The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University

Yeah and it also means like my town.. Once it became a city our taxes go up

Was only just in Rochester last week 😊 look into its history Connor it's pretty interesting .

What are the "rules" about calling a settlement a "city" in the USA? Dodge must have been minuscule when first called "Dodge City". Some "incorporated" settlements seem to have as few as two inhabitants.

Cathedral, university and a bit A Road in UK You got a city

11:28 'The Good Coldplay Album' 😄

The town i live in applied for city status and failed 😂 and I'm glad, it does no good for the people who live there and just costs money

Is that Ripon n in Derbyshire or Ripon in Yorkshire? I've been to both

I can vouch for the cathedral comment because my home town of Wolverhampton was a town and is not a city but we do not have a cathedral.. We have a enormous church tho called St Peters and there was talk of it being given cathedral status but no it's still a church

In New Zealand towns only become cities if the have a population of over 50,000. Under 50,000 a town, over 50,000 a city. There's no other criteria. (as of 1989)

What is the smallest settlement in the USA with the word "City" in its title?

I was brought up in Southwell, a small town in Notts. It's football team is called Southwell City, it has a Minster and is the capital of the Nottingham Church of England diocese. After all these years I don't know if it's a city!

hands up if you add mustard and nutmeg to mashed spud ?

Stop explaining how commercials work please

I dunno, Royal Provudence sounds cool...

Hello from Reading, pitty me.

3:55 inhabitant of said dull suburban borough here

I thought a city had to have a University.

OK we have been a city for 23 years then.. Blimey that's gone quick..

Do we even get mosquitoes in Britain?

Hard luck Reading.

That list of godless, heathen towns that became cities despite not having a cathedral includes Derby (1977); however, Derby does have a cathedral.

I thought it needed a charter from the monarch.

The answer is a cathedral, i refuse to recognise any towns that dont have one as a city.

It makes no sense, but it is gloriously British! Just one of the bonkers things that makes us great (unless you live somewhere that you feel ought to qualify). Just like our Monarchy, and countless other weird and wonderful things. Please don't tidy it all up according to modern "wisdom"!!!!