A follow up question, if I may:

Just how ancient are the City's rights and liberties? Is there any merit to the suggestion that they stem from a time when the city was an island of Brythonic-speaking Brits in an Anglo-saxon sea?

I asked this question last year and got a fantastic but little viewed reply from /u/domestic_dog which can be found [here] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4i92s2/what_are_the_city_of_londons_ancient_rights/d2wrymk/?context=3)

This (warning PDF download) paper answers the question fully and completely. Taking from the paper, the Rights and Liberties of the City at the time were:

• Taxes and Tolls. The City obtained exemption from various taxes (scot and lot, danegeld) as well as fines (murdrum, childwite, jeresgive, scotale, miskenning). It also gained the right to pay the same tallage and aids as other citizens as well as an exemption from tolls and a maximum sum for amercements;
• Judicial Rights. The City obtained the right to be tried by their own courts, that is, ‘within the walls’. Also, freedom from ‘wager by battle’ as well as the rights of infangthef, outfangthef, escheat, waifs, estrays and treasure trove. Also, certain legal rights distinct from the common law in respect of: lands, promises, debts, wills as well as orphans, apprentices, feme sole, hostlers and defamatory words. The mayor and aldermen obtained the right to be justices of the peace (JP’s) and the mayor, a justice of goal delivery and of oyer and terminer;
• War and Billeting. The City obtained exemption from being compelled to provide troops for war outside the City and to be free of billeting;
• Officials. The City obtained the right to appoint a mayor, sheriffs, chamberlain, common clerk and common sarjeant. Provision was also made for the annual election of aldermen;
• Offices of the Mayor. The mayor obtained the offices of : escheator, bailiff of the Thames, admiral of the port of London, clerk of the market, keeper of the great beam, gauger of merchandise, outroper, coroner, registrar of pawns, custodian of Bedlam, assistant to the butler at the coronation and lord lieutenant;
• Merchants and Markets. The City obtained the right to impose various restrictions on merchants as well as brokers. Also, the right to have: their own clerk of the market, courts of piepowder, market overt and freedom for purveyance. Further, the ability to impose: charges on the weighing, carriage, survey (ie. inspection) and the measurement of goods and coals;
• The City obtained the right to bear maces of gold and silver. Also, confirmation of their hunting rights.

Of those,

• Taxes & tolls: either refer to obsolete terms or have been superceded by legislation and other charters. The paper deems that none of the items granted by the Magna Carta remain in force.
• Judicial rights: have either become obsolete or been superceded by general legislation or become purely ceremonial in nature
• War & Billeting: have been superceded by general legislation
• Offices of the Mayor: are again ceremonial in nature and have none of the real power enshrined in the Magna Carta
• Merchants & Markets: have been superceded by later legislation

The short answer is that none of the originally granted Rights & Liberties remain in their original form.

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