Greenwich's royal seal of approval

A royal borough has been created in London for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The Queen announced her patronage of the London Borough of Greenwich in January and councillors voted unanimously in favour of the changes.

Its special charter will take effect next January in time for the Olympics, for which Greenwich is a host borough.

Labour council leader Chris Roberts said: "Greenwich has always taken tremendous pride in the borough's long history of royal connections."