{"id":10864,"date":"2022-05-17T12:03:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T10:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=30461"},"modified":"2022-05-17T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T10:20:08","slug":"what-is-a-royal-warrant","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/what-is-a-royal-warrant\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Royal Warrant?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rachel Nott\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 17 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Banquets, pageants, gala performances, street parties\u2026 there are many ways to mark a monarch\u2019s anniversary on the throne<\/a>. Back in 1935, however, the Royal Warrant Holders Association<\/a> did it in some style, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the accession of George V by building a large brick house, filling it with its members\u2019 creations, and presenting it to the King.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s House, as it was known, was built for the 1935 Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia, London, and later dismantled and rebuilt in Surrey. And, for the exhibition, the house was filled with examples of the trades, products, and skills of warrant holders \u2013 furniture designers, jewellers and clockmakers, clothes designers and more. It must have made a fascinating and beautiful showcase of some of the best-quality craftsmanship of the time.<\/p>\n

What is a Royal Warrant?<\/h3>\n
A Royal Warrant of Appointment recognises those who have supplied goods or services to the households of HM The Queen or HRH The Prince of Wales. Warrant holders, or grantees, must have an ongoing trading arrangement \u2013 and also demonstrate not only their credentials of excellence, but also their environmental and social responsibility throughout the supply chain. Today, Royal Warrant holders represent a huge cross-section of trade and industry, from individual craftspeople to global multinationals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Companies can apply for a Royal Warrant after they have supplied the royal households with goods or services for at least five years out of seven. Warrants are granted for up to five years, after which time a renewal must be sought.<\/p>\n
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How long have Royal Warrants been around?<\/h3>\n
Royal Warrants effectively began in the Middle Ages. Gaining royal favour was a fiercely fought competition, and the monarch could pick and choose the cre\u0300me de la cre\u0300me of Britain\u2019s top tradespeople. As early as the 13th century, a department known as the Great Wardrobe organised the royal household\u2019s accounts and administration, and kept records of transactions between the household and the types of craftspeople and traders who hold warrants today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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By the 1400s, the Lord Chamberlain, as head of the royal household, began to formally engage tradespeople with a Royal Warrant of Appointment, and this arrangement still operates today.<\/p>\n
One early demonstration of the extraordinary range of talent and expertise available to the crown was the evocatively named Field of Cloth of Gold, the lavish meeting between Henry VIII and France\u2019s monarch, Franc\u0327ois I, in northern France in 1520. An opulent display of wealth by both sides, the summit took its name from the abundance of cloth of gold (an expensive fabric woven with silk and gold thread) that adorned the tents and costumes.<\/p>\n
Moving forwards through history, warrants progressed significantly under certain monarchs. For example, Elizabeth I would commonly progress around the country and bestow warrants upon goldsmiths, silk merchants, and other traders whose products added to her regal finery \u2013 a key part of her royal legitimacy in an England deeply divided along religious lines.<\/p>\n
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Later, George IV, nicknamed \u2018the First Gentleman of Europe\u2019, loved to dress well and surround himself with fine things. Under George\u2019s rule the tailors of Jermyn Street, London (among them the skilled Huguenot silk weavers, recently arrived from France) became new warrant holders \u2013 and the number of holders doubled, from 100 to 200. Around the same time, in the 18th century, royal tradesmen began displaying the Royal Arms on their premises and stationery.<\/p>\n
Notable Royal Warrant Holders<\/h3>\n
Still today, the elegant London district of St James\u2019s is full of warrant holders \u2013 rare rug dealers, antiques dealers and more. Among the early warrant holders in the district was the perfumier Floris<\/a>, originally a comb maker, who has the Royal Arms built into its premises on Jermyn Street, St James\u2019s (Arms later had to be detachable, in the event of the warrant\u2019s withdrawal). Founder Juan Famenias Floris and his wife Elizabeth began selling perfume, combs and shaving products at 89 Jermyn Street in 1730, receiving their first Royal Warrant as \u2018Smooth Pointed Comb Maker to HM The King George IV\u2019 in 1820.<\/p>\n
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