The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or right to trade, becoming closely linked to the medieval guilds, the livery companies. In 1835, eligibility for the freedom of the City was extended to anyone who lived in, worked in or had a strong connection to the City. The freedom that citizens enjoy has long associations with privileges in the governance of the City. Whilst no longer carrying many substantive rights and largely existing as a tradition, the freedom is a pre-requisite for standing for election to the Common Council and Court of Aldermen of the City of London. The Lord Mayor of the City must first become an alderman, and hence must also be a freeman. There are multiple routes to gaining the freedom of the City of London. The original three routes to the freedom, via the livery companies, still exist. An individual can become a freeman of a livery company by servitude (apprenticeship), patrimony (either parent being a member of that livery company), or redemption (general admission, the criteria varying by livery company). Once a freeman of a livery company, an application can be made to the Chamberlain's Court for admission as a freeman of the City, which requires approval from Common Council. It is necessary to become a freeman of the City to advance to the livery company status of 'liveryman', or to hold an office in a livery company. Liverymen have electoral rights in the City of London in voting for certain offices. It is also possible to become a freeman of the City by nomination by two common councillors, aldermen or liverymen. Similarly, due to freedom being a pre-requisite for standing for elected office in the City, it is possible for a prospective candidate to obtain freedom by nomination by any two electors. There is a long-standing tradition of the City admitting women to the freedom. Although they are now usually called freemen as well, historically the term was free sisters. Freemen are admitted by the Clerk of the Chamberlain's Court during a ceremony at Guildhall.

Honorary Freedom

Honorary Freedom of the City of London is a recognition of lifetime achievement or high international standing, and is much rarer than the broader freedom of the city. The granting of the Honorary Freedom of the City of London (or Freedom Honoris Causa) is extremely rare and generally awarded today only to royalty, heads of state, or figures of genuine global standing. It is the greatest honour that is in the power of the City of London to bestow, and usually takes place in Guildhall in the presence of the Common Council and the lord mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen, along with invited guests. For example, in 2013, after a gap of some eleven years, Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the Honorary Freedom of the City of London, with the ceremony taking place at Mansion House. In 1996, Nelson Mandela, as President of South Africa, received the same honour. The presentation on such occasions is made by the Chamberlain of the City of London and is often followed by a banquet at Guildhall or Mansion House. Historically, the first personage to be so honoured was William Pitt the Elder in 1757. However, there are also records of the presentation of such in May 1698 to Philemon Philip Carter, son of Nathaniel Carter (goldsmiths) in the "Freedom of the City Admission Papers" 1681–1930. For many years, it was the custom to present the Freedom in specially commissioned and unique gold or silver caskets, the design of which was inspired by the background and the achievements of the individual to which it was presented. More normal today would be to present the honour in the form of a scroll in an inscribed box.

List of Freemen

The mixed list below contains the names of some of the notable people who have received the Freedom or Honorary Freedom over the years. Dates of awards are shown in brackets.

Royal Family members

• Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (4 November 1857) • Edward VII (1863) • Prince Albert Victor (29 June 1885) • George VI (28 October 1919) • Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1946) • Elizabeth II (11 June 1947) • Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (14 June 1948) • Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1953) • Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (21 June 1966) • Charles III (1971) • Anne, Princess Royal (February 1976) • Diana, Princess of Wales (22 July 1987) • Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (2011)

Prime ministers of the United Kingdom

• William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (received the first honorary Freedom in 1757) • William Pitt the Younger (February 1784) • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1815) • Benjamin Disraeli (3 August 1878) • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (3 August 1878) • William Gladstone (October 1881) • David Lloyd George (27 April 1917) • Winston Churchill (30 June 1943) • Clement Attlee (26 November 1953) • Margaret Thatcher (26 May 1989) • Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients

Foreign royalty

• Margrethe II of Denmark (2000) • David Bagration of Mukhrani, Head of the Royal House of Georgia. • Otto von Habsburg (11 July 2007) • Michael I of Romania (2011) • Kigeli V of Rwanda (28 June 2016)

Presidents of the United States of America

• Ulysses S. Grant (15 June 1877) • Theodore Roosevelt (31 May 1910) • Woodrow Wilson (28 December 1918) • Franklin D. Roosevelt • Dwight D. Eisenhower (12 June 1945)

International leaders and principal figures

• Giuseppe Garibaldi (20 April 1864) • Mir Turab Ali Khan, Salar Jung I (25 July 1876) • Louis Botha (16 April 1907) • Wilfrid Laurier (16 April 1907) • Robert Borden (29 July 1915) • Jan Smuts (1 May 1917) • V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1921) • R. B. Bennett (4 November 1930) • Jawaharlal Nehru (1956) • Lester B. Pearson (1967) • Lee Kuan Yew (15 July 1982) • Nelson Mandela (10 July 1996) • Helmut Kohl (18 February 1998, "as the first European leader") • Bob Hawke (March 1999) • Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (24 June 2005) • Alan Greenspan (December 2005) • Lee Hsien Loong (28 March 2014)

Entrepreneurs and academics

• George Peabody (10 July 1862, in recognition of his financial contribution to London's poor) • Sir Albert Sassoon (1873) • Sir George Stokes, Bt • Benjamin Henry Blackwell (1920; founder of Blackwell's academic publishing company) • Mark Watson-Gandy (1995) • Patrick Boylan (1991) • Bill Gates • Jimmy Choo (14 November 2006) • Sir Tim Berners-Lee (24 September 2014) • George Helon, JP (3 March 2016 and presented on 12 September 2016) • The 4th Earl of Selborne • Dame Kate Bingham (2021)

Archbishops of Canterbury, York and London

Religious leaders

• William Booth (26 October 1906) • Arnold Brown • Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor • Robin Dunster (13 September 2007) • Cardinal Vincent Nichols (7 September 2011) • Cardinal Renato Martino (6 May 2013)

Diplomats

• Ferdinand de Lesseps (1870) • Alexander Downer, Sr. (1965) • Daniel Mulhall (17 July 2017) • Sylvie Bermann (26 July 2017) • Arkady Rzegocki, Polish Ambassador (26 February 2020) • Ľubomír Rehák (2020) • John Kerry (9 May 2022) United States Secretary of State 2013-2017

Entertainment and the arts

• Dame Vera Lynn (1978) • Raymond Baxter (1978) • Ron Goodwin • Justin Connolly (13 January 1989) • Eric Sykes • Paul Humphreys (1996) • Annie Lennox • Audrey Russell, broadcaster • Luciano Pavarotti (12 November 2005) • Dame Barbara Windsor (4 August 2010) • Simon Russell Beale (10 January 2011) • Colin Firth (8 March 2012) • J. K. Rowling (8 May 2012) • Dame Judi Dench • Sir Michael Caine (8 March 2013) • Damian Lewis (20 March 2013) • Plácido Domingo (16 April 2013) • Bob Geldof (16 September 2013) • Henry Winkler (9 January 2014) • Teriy Keys (18 September 2014) • Dame Joan Collins (18 September 2014) • Sir Ian McKellen (30 October 2014) • Morgan Freeman (12 November 2014) • Stephen Fry • Eddie Redmayne • Stephen Sondheim (2018) • Mark Oliver Everett (July 2019) • Ronnie Wood (6 April 2021) • Tommy Steele (19 July 2021) • Arif Anis (7 April 2022) • Marco Camisani Calzolari (22 June 2022) • Ed Sheeran (24 June 2022) • Cameron Mackintosh (1 June 2023) • Robert J. Sherman (11 January 2024)

Historically notable Britons

• George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham • Edward Jenner (11 August 1803) • James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez • Sir Edward Berry • Sir John Ross (March 1834) • Sir George Arthur • Sir James Brooke (1847) • Sir William Fenwick Williams • Sir Francis Leopold McClintock (May 1860) • Richard Cobden (1861) • Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala (1868) • Baroness Burdett-Coutts (18 July 1872). first female Honorary Freeman. • Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet (9 March 1876) • Sir Rowland Hill (1879) • Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1880) • Beauchamp Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester (1883) • Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (1883) • Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (1884) • Sir Henry Morton Stanley (13 January 1887) • William Lidderdale (1891) • Sir George Williams (June 1894) • Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (4 November 1898) • Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner (23 July 1901) • Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell • Joseph Chamberlain (13 February 1902) • Florence Nightingale (16 August 1908). She was the second woman to receive the Honorary Freedom. • Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey (23 January 1912) • Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (16 June 1919) • David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (16 June 1919) • Sir Austen Chamberlain (25 March 1926) • Bernard, Baron Weatherill (1949) • Sir Neville Leigh • John Bercow (4 July 2016) • Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham • Captain Sir Tom Moore (12 May 2020)

Other notable recipients

• Sir Thomas Phillips (voted 26 February 1840, admitted on 7 April 1840) • Sir James Willcocks (11 July 1901). Freedom of the City of London with sword of honour. • Frederick Cook (15 October 1909) • Charles Lindbergh • Roy Chadwick (1943) • Sir Ernest Marshall Cowell (1953) • Frederick Penny, 1st Viscount Marchwood • Frank Marshall, Baron Marshall of Leeds • PC Trevor Lock • Bartholomew Broadbent (17 January 1985) • Ari Norman (6 November 1992) for services to the British silver industry • Ed Mirvish • Brian Dear (3 October 2001) for charity work • Massimo Ellul (26 September 2005) • Peter Ackroyd (15 December 2006) • Bob Winter (10 September 2007) • Shaw Clifton (13 September 2007) • Lasse Lehtinen (21 September 2007) • Liam Hackett (15 September 2010) • Robin Tilbrook (27 September 2011) • David Weir (3 December 2012) • Alastair Cook • Dwayne Fields (2013) • Crista Cullen (23 August 2013) • Rob Whiteman (1 May 2014), public servant and CEO of CIPFA • Mark Carney (2014), former governor, Bank of Canada; former governor, Bank of England • Chris Pavlou • Nigel Cumberland (29 June 2016) • Tom Cox (April 2017) • Adam Ockelford (2021) • Tom Harwood (14 February 2022) • • 2022 EURO England Women's Football Team squad (announced 1 August 2022): • • Sarina Wiegman (coach, from The Netherlands) • • Mary Earps • • Lucy Bronze • • Rachel Daly • • Keira Walsh • • Alex Greenwood • • Millie Bright • • Beth Mead • • Leah Williamson • • Ellen White • • Georgia Stanway • • Lauren Hemp • • Jess Carter • • Hannah Hampton • • Fran Kirby • • Demi Stokes • • Jill Scott • • Nikita Parris • • Chloe Kelly • • Bethany England • • Ella Toone • • Ellie Roebuck • • Lotte Wubben-Moy • • Alessia Russo • Mark Noble (18 November 2022), West Ham United footballer • Harry Kane (25 May 2023), England men's football captain • Sarah Gilbert (6 October 2023) Oxford project leader for the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine • Ian Wright (1 November 2023), former Crystal Palace, Arsenal and England footballer.