Camilla’s first royal warrant goes to Fortnum
King gives 145 firms his royal seal of approval... but trader who supplied family gatherings among those who are dropped
QUEEN Camilla has granted prestigious royal warrants for the first time, it can be revealed today.
The luxury department store Fortnum & Mason is one of seven brands to be given Camilla’s seal of approval.
Other businesses to gain a warrant include Wartski jewellers in London, who made the King and Queen’s wedding rings in 2005.
Queen Camilla, who is known to enjoy a tipple and is president of Wine GB, the national association for the English and Welsh wine industry, has also chosen to bestow two wine businesses with her warrant. One is Camel Valley in Cornwall, a family-owned business that last year provided wine for the lavish state banquet at Buckingham Palace for South Korea’s President and First Lady.
The other is Corney & Barrow in London, which was founded in 1780 and is one of the UK’s oldest wine merchants.
Camel Valley boss Bob Lindo said: ‘Her Majesty has taken a keen interest in the development of English wines and has been a terrific source of encouragement and enthusiasm. To now have been appointed as one of her first warrant holders is very special.’
Other recipients of warrants from Camilla include the London chemist D.R. Harris and Co, the ‘floral alchemists’ Shane Connolly & Co and the stationery suppliers Smythson. Frank Smythson, who started the company, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in the 1890s to provide stationery for all her residences.
Companies can advertise having a warrant as a badge of honour.
Warrants date back to medieval times and reflect the interests of the member of the Royal Family granting them.
Having a royal warrant is estimated to boost a company’s revenue by at least five per cent.
QUEEN Elizabeth’s favourite village butcher last night spoke of his disappointment after King Charles removed one of his royal warrants.
John Sinclair, co-owner of HM Sheridan, a butcher’s shop near Balmoral Castle that has supplied the Royal Family for almost 40 years, said he feared he may have lost one of his two cherished royal warrants because his beef is not organic.
The decision was made as part of a review of 184 royal warrants that had been previously granted by the King when he was Prince of Wales.
A total of 145 businesses were told this weekend they had retained their warrants after they were asked to reapply.
Some of those who lost their warrants may not have re-applied, but The Mail on Sunday has established that at least eight firms, including HM Sheridan, did attempt to retain their status but were rejected by the Palace.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Mr Sinclair, whose shop in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, received an order from Balmoral just days before Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022, said: ‘We’re disappointed that we no longer have the warrant. Obviously we didn’t meet the criteria, but I don’t know why.
‘I’ll be asking a question about that.’
‘Maybe it’s because we’re not fully organic. It’s a job getting organic meat to this part of the country – we’re in the middle of nowhere up here.’
HM Sheridan also holds a royal warrant issued by Queen Elizabeth. A separate review is being carried out to determine the future of that warrant and more than 600 others issued to brands by the late Queen. Among a string of household names to lose a royal warrant during the review was Vauxhall Motors, Britain’s oldest surviving car brand and the maker of hugely popular models including the Astra, Corsa and Cavalier.
Vauxhall has been associated with the Royal Family since 1961, when Queen Elizabeth owned the first of a series of its estate cars.
In 1999 Charles and Camila were pictured in London leaving a birthday party in a Vauxhall Omega – the first time they stepped out in public as a couple.
A Vauxhall spokesman said that despite their ‘proud history’ of supplying the Royal Family, ‘we have not been asked to do so now for a number of years [so] we did not feel that it was appropriate to renew the warrant.’
Luxury carmakers Aston Martin and Land Rover have kept their warrants and are regularly used by the Royal Family.
Royal warrants allow companies to advertise that they supply the Royal Family. They date back to the 15th century and have been estimated to boost revenue of firms that have them by at least five per cent.
Taylors of Harrogate, maker of Yorkshire Tea, was awarded a warrant in 2009 because the company supplied Charles’s residence at Clarence House.
A spokeswoman last night confirmed it had unsuccessfully reapplied for its warrant: ‘We were very honoured to have held a royal warrant to the former Prince of Wales for many years.
‘While we did reapply, we’ve always recognised that change was likely following the passing of HM The Queen.’
The loss of Taylors’ warrant could be simply down to Charles’s changing tea tastes. Twinings – believed to be Queen Elizabeth’s favourite tea-maker – has had its warrant renewed by the King.
Other winners include Waitrose, The Ritz in London and clothing brands Barbour and Burberry.
Laurel Foreman, owner of Wark Farm, an Aberdeenshire business that supplies organic meat, told the MoS she was thrilled the firm has kept its warrant. She added: ‘I think it’s because we are organic. We do a lot of work for wildlife conservation and sustainable farming... I’m a huge admirer of King Charles and what he stands for.’
In the 1990s Charles introduced sustainability criteria for his royal warrants and since 2016 businesses have had to complete a sustainability section in their application, including information about their environmental practices, ethical sourcing and labour standards.
It is understood that firms did not have to meet significantly tougher eco-standards as part of the recent review. Some companies, however, have been left wondering if they are not environmentally aware enough for the King’s warrant.
One small business owner, who was disappointed to lose the warrant, told the MoS: ‘You must be very sustainable to get it [the warrant]. You had to fill out loads of forms... about whether you have electric vehicles, how you recycle your rubbish... if you were importing anything from abroad.’
‘I would put it down to sustainability [as the reason why] we didn’t get it. I would say that it’s the major factor.’
Andrew Davies, manager of Towy Projects construction firm in Wales, was also dismayed to learn he had lost his warrant.
While he accepted that ‘all good things must come to an end,’ he wondered if ‘possibly’ sustainability had played a role.
Calor, one of the UK’s largest suppliers of liquefied petroleum gas and known for its bottled butane and propane, lost the warrant it had previously held when Charles was Prince of Wales, although it has not been told why.
A spokesman said: ‘Calor has proudly held the Royal Warrant since 1967 and we are obviously disappointed not to have it renewed. We will now review and consider reapplying at an appropriate future time.’
In contrast, Gloucestershire-based Green Fuels Ltd retained its warrant. The firm supplies an ecofuel produced from a combination of wine deemed unsuitable for drinking and whey from cheese manufacturing to power the King’s Aston Martin DB6.
In a landmark move, Queen Camilla has also granted warrants for the first time.
The seven warrants include two wine merchants – Camel Valley in Cornwall and Corney and Barrow in London – as well as a chemist, a florist, a jeweller, a stationery supplier and the luxury department shop Fortnum & Mason.
‘You must be very sustainable to get it’