A COUNTRY house where King Edward VII frequently entertained one of his mistresses could help Swindon's bid to become a city.

King Edward's Place at Foxhill, near Wanborough, was bought by Allied Dunbar as a training centre. It now belongs to Zurich Financial Services, which took over the assurance and pensions fund giant and continues to use the small but gracious mansion.

And its history could be an asset in Swindon's second attempt to become a city.

In a letter to Swindon Borough Council chief executive Paul Doherty, the Lord Chancellor's department says historical, including royal, considerations will be an important factor in the decision making.

The Lord Chancellor took over responsibility for civic honours from the Home Secretary after the General Election.

Now local people are being asked to do some sleuthing in a bid to uncover more of Swindon's Royal links.

"The king's name does not appear on the deeds," said Zurich spokes-woman Rosemary Callendar. "But it's believed that the house might have been bought for him."

According to Ms Callendar, it's known that Lily Langtry, one of Edward VII's long-term mistresses, kept her furs there and he was a frequent visitor when he was still Prince of Wales.

An extensive training centre has been built in the beautifully land-scaped grounds, but the original house is largely the same as it was during the Edwardian era.

An elegant marble bathroom is among its most spectacular features.

The king's grandson Edward VIII, who became the Duke of Windsor after abdicating to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, also had local connections when he was Prince of Wales.

He frequently visited friends among the hunting set who lived in the area. While staying with one of them in the 1920s, he attended a Vale of the White Horse Hunt ball at what is now the Health Hydro in Milton Road. His Royal Highness, who was coming down with flu at the time, stayed at the ball with his hosts for nearly two hours before being driven to Swindon Junction station to catch a train back to London.

He left behind a line of dis-appointed girls who had been hoping they'd be asked for a dance.

Rather more significant was the visit in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I and her privy council to Lydiard House, country home of the St John and Bolingbroke family and bought in the 1940s by Swindon Borough Council which has painstakingly restored it.

On Friday, November 7, 1997, Queen Elizabeth II had lunch there with council members and officers during a tour of the town in which she opened a nursery class at Gorse Hill Primary School and unveiled a plaque on Wharf Green to commemorate her visit.

The St John family were staunch Royalists during the Civil War and three of John St John's sons died while fighting in Charles I's army.

Henry St John, who became the first Viscount Bolingbroke, served Queen Anne as her minister for war.

In 1642, King Charles I granted a charter to local landowner Thomas Goddard giving him the right to hold a market and annual fair in what is now Old Town.

On January 22, 1900, another charter, this one conferring municipal borough status on the town, was granted to Swindon council by Queen Victoria. It was one of her last official acts.

It seems Victoria never ventured into the town, but her grandson George V did.

He came here with Queen Mary in 1924 and toured the Great Western Railway works. They even visited the GW laundry, which supplied clean linen for railway hotels up and down the country.

The famous King class loco-motives were being designed in the works offices at the time and one of the best-known locos ever built there was named after him.

Our present Queen first came here in 1950 on her own while she was still Princess Elizabeth. During her visit, which marked the borough's golden jubilee, she opened Moredon playing fields and the town's Garden of Remembrance.

On November 5, 1971, she returned with the Duke of Edinburgh to inaugurate the first stage of Swindon's new £7.5 million civic centre, which included the Wyvern Theatre. And the thousands of flag-waving, cheering people who huddled under umbrellas along the rain-soaked streets from the train station clearly demonstrated their loyalty to the Monarchy.

They did so again on the much sunnier November day in 1997 when the Queen was escorted around the town by council leader Sue Bates and Mayor Maurice Fanning, whose red civic robes were set off by an earring. A few days later Coun Bates received a warm letter from one of Her Majesty's private secretaries expressing her pleasure at the welcome she had received.

Ten months later she was back again this time to visit Motorola's new factory at North Swindon.