Brian Parker, of Crossparks, Dartmouth, writes:

The BID public bid for the town to be declared Royal – or Regis – must be halted now before it does irreparable damage to the reputation of the town.

Were it to proceed at this time, there are two obvious words that would kill it stone dead – Wootton Bassett. 

Both locally and nationwide, a Dartmouth bid would be viewed against the latest Royal town and the question asked 'what is so special about Dartmouth that justifies such a proposal at this time?' They have a point.

The granting of a royal prefix is very rare indeed.

Apart from the Royal county of Berkshire and Royal boroughs in London and Windsor, there are just three royal towns. 

Royal Leamington Spa was granted a charter in 1838, when Queen Victoria visited. 

Edward VII granted Royal Tunbridge Wells the title in 1909 in recognition of the town's connections with the royal family since the Stuart dynasty.

Finally, we have Royal Wootton Bassett receiving its charter from the Queen in 2011 for its outstanding dedication to honouring the returning military war dead.

There is good substance in the suggestion that Dartmouth could be honoured in recognition of the town's connections with the royal family since the 13th century. 

In 1214, King John visited and granted the town the 'privilege of Mairalte'. 

In 1286, Edward I came with Queen Eleanor and could have granted the town royal status in recognition of the truly outstanding support in men and vessels for his wars – but he did not.

In 1856, Queen Victoria, much attracted to the town, revisited and granted Royal status, not to the town but to the regatta.

This brings us to the present. The granting of a royal charter has to be associated with a defining moment; it cannot come out of the blue.

We have to wait for such a moment to arise, and certainly long enough to allow Wootton Bassett to recede from present consciousness and take its place in history.

I believe the next defining moment will come at the accession of King Charles III and it just might happen that he could grant honours in commemoration of the Queen's long and successful reign.

I support the concept of Royal Dartmouth and have been happy to provide accurate historical information to the Business Improvement District team but I think we should switch to the long-term objective. A successful granting of the title is far more important than its timing. 

I have some 'fruitful' suggestions as to how the staff work should proceed in the long term but these are not for public airing at this time.