Today Leicester marks a centenary many people in the city won’t be familiar with and one that probably won’t trigger too many celebrations.

Our city is officially 100 years old.

Yes, the Celts may have pitched up on the banks of the Soar before the Romans built their fort and Ratae began to flourish but it wasn't until  after the Norman Conquest that Ledecestre was noted in the Domesday Book as a city.

City status was quickly lost - a casualty of power struggles between the Church and the aristocracy and Leicester did not become a legal city again until 1919.

In the interim period Leicester, smack in the middle of the country, certainly played a pivotal part in English history – including Richard III’s demise and a Civil War Siege beyond its legal status.

Crowds cheer as King George V and Queen Mary's carriage passes through Leicester

So fast forward to 1919 when King  George V and Queen Mary visited, partly as a thank-you gesture for the town’s effort in the First World War and also to confer a knighthood on Jonathan North, the highly successful Mayor of  Leicester  who held office throughout almost the whole of the 1914-18 war.

The visit on June 10,  1919, also heralded a very important civic event – the restoration of  city  status to  Leicester .

The royal couple went on a walkabout and, according to a Mercury report, “conversed with  Leicester  citizens of both high and low degree”.

The welcome given to the royal party was described as “rapturous” and the town was beautifully decorated for the occasion.

The report stated: “No town has so bedecked itself since or before the war.

“There was evidently a great reserve of pent-up loyalty in the hearts of its people that had until now lacked a fair chance of expression.”

The writer continued: “If there was a cynic in the camp or a budding Bolshevik, he retired sullenly to his tent and made no attempt to disturb the harmony.”

Following the royal visit, Leicester was returned to  city status by the King on June 14.

A letter to the then Mayor of Leicester, Mr W Lovell, from the Home Secretary Edward Shortt, was reprinted in the following day’s paper.

“My dear Mr Mayor, I should like to express to you personally how greatly the  King  and Queen appreciated and enjoyed their visit to  Leicester . The admirable arrangements and the brightness and happiness of all, young and old, were most pleasing to their majesties.

“I am very glad also to be able to inform you that his majesty has been graciously pleased to approve the restoration to your ancient town of its former status of a city .

“May I offer congratulations to the citizens of Leicester  and to you personally, that so important a change should have taken place during your year of office.

And with those words, we became the city we are today.

Today’s city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “I think everyone assumes Leicester has been a city for some 2,000 years.

“It may be a bit of a surprise to find city status was not actually conferred somewhat belatedly until 1919.

“At that point, which was a little bit before my time, it was a recognition that Leicester was an important community with a population of around 200,000.”