The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV. The academy provides undergraduate and postgraduate training across instrumental performance, composition, jazz, musical theatre and opera, and recruits musicians from around the world, with a student community representing more than 50 nationalities. The academy's museum houses one of the world's most significant collections of musical instruments and artefacts, including stringed instruments by Stradivari, Guarneri, and members of the Amati family; manuscripts by Purcell, Handel and Vaughan Williams; and a collection of performing materials that belonged to leading performers. It is a constituent college of the University of London.
The Royal Armouries Museum, home to the national collection of arms and armour, is Britain's oldest museum. One of the ancient institutions of the Tower of London, its origins can be traced back to the working armoury of the medieval kings of England. The royal armours of Henry VIII, Charles I, Charles II and James II form the heart of the collection and are among its greatest treasures.
The Royal Asiatic Society China is a learned society based in Shanghai and Beijing, China. It was established in Shanghai in 1857 by a small group of British and American expatriates as the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, and within a year had achieved affiliation with the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and become the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (NCBRAS). The first journal was published in 1858 and thereafter for 90 years. The Society's original home comprised a ground-floor reading room, library and lecture hall, but was expanded in 1874 to house a museum on the floor above. The Society was closed in 1952. The book collection went to the Shanghai Library and most of the museum exhibits to the Shanghai Natural History Museum.
In 2006 the society was re-established in Hangzhou and transferred to Shanghai the following year as the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai. The Journal has been resurrected and a growing library and museum opened to members and scholars. In 2013 a chapter was established in Beijing as the Royal Asiatic Society in Beijing.
The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch applied to be an Associate Society in 1900 and this was approved in January 1901. As such, it is the oldest organization in Korea designed to introduce people to Korea in all its many aspects. Its early history was somewhat disrupted due to political difficulties but it has been continuously active since 1956. It remains an active international cultural and social organisation in Korea.