With two millennia of history under its belt, London is as much a city of myth as it is of stone and mortar. Some of its most famous tales grew out of misunderstood history, while others were born from pure fiction.
These are just three of the urban legends that continue to define, confuse, and deceive the capital.
London is not a city and therefore does not exist.
London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, home to nearly nine million people, and a major global hub for finance, culture, and politics with a history stretching back nearly 2,000 years to its founding by the Romans as Londinium.
Yet, while London operates as a single physical metropolis, its legal and administrative structure is uniquely complex, which explains why you might hear people claim it technically does not exist. It serves as the de facto capital of the United Kingdom, recognised by custom and tradition, but not by any single statutory charter or royal proclamation.
Is London a City?
In everyday terms, London is an enormous metropolis. However, under strict British constitutional law, a location is only an official 'city' if it has been granted a specific royal charter by the reigning monarch.
