A black screen with the official portrait of the late queen. This is how the British art object manufacturer, Halcyon Days, welcomes its customers the day after the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. “We will not accept any new orders during an appropriate period of mourning”, even specifies the company to the place of its customers. A break in business therefore, but certainly no great revolution to come for this almost unique company in the Kingdom which proudly displays the three royal warrants of official supplier of Windsor.
“We are one of fourteen companies in the world to hold all three. Some see them as seals of approval from HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Prince of Wales. They are extremely important to us as they validate an aspect of our brand of which we are most proud: the quality of our product and our integrity as a British company, protecting traditional craftsmanship”, confided to L’Express in 2019, Pamela Harper, its creator, whose workshop is located in Stoke-on-Trent, the English pottery capital, located between Birmingham and Manchester.
“Each mandate is granted for a period of five years”
To date, there are still 744 companies in possession of a “Royal Warrant”. Among French companies, there are mainly champagne manufacturers. The oldest is Bollinger (created in 1829) which has been served at the royal table since 1858, “labelled” by queen victoria herself in 1884, the great-grandmother of Elizabeth II. But the biggest French houses are also in the cellars of the royal palaces: Mumm, Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, Louis Roederer, Laurent-Perrier or Lanson… A rare privilege because only about twenty non-British companies can display the royal coat of arms.
Only, to obtain the precious sesame, it is not enough to provide a product to one of the family members. It’s the whole range, all the services that are controlled by the association of holders of royal mandates, a sort of guardian of the temple. Installed in a small office within the grounds of the palace of buckinghamthis small team of six people ensures that the candidates have provided for at least five years, and at a good price, the royal house.
“The majority of these products or services are used on a daily basis and can be found in any British home,” said a spokesperson for the association. Each mandate is granted for a period of five years, but each year, companies leave the registers. “As a rule, the lost mandates are mainly because trade with the royal house has diminished”, indicates a member of the association who specifies that only doctors, bankers and lawyers are not eligible.
Queen Elizabeth II in discussion with Pamela Harper, the designer of the brand Halcyon Days. She presents him with some pieces planned for the Jubilee of his 70-year reign in March 2022.
Steve Parsons/POOL/AFP
Discretion is key
Besides, tea, crockery, umbrella, or Tabasco, the famous American spicy sauce… There’s something for everyone. One of the oldest mandates, and still in force, was granted in 1740, during the reign of George II, to the harpsichord and then piano maker Broadwood. Recently, it was the specialist in organic and vegan animal croquette Lily’s Kitchen that won the timpani with Prince Charles, the new King of England. And the game is worth the candle since the royal dubbing proves to be a certain marketing argument in the United Kingdom and perhaps even more abroad, especially in Asia.
“In a world overwhelmed with choice, Royal Warrants are undoubtedly a useful persuasive tool when customers are faced with purchasing decisions. The British Royal Family is known around the world, and we absolutely believe that these distinctions are of considerable importance abroad”, confides Pamela Harper, the creator of Halcyon Days, who had the privilege in March 2022 of presenting her latest collection of luxury artisanal tableware (count 400 euros for a teapot) planned for the Queen’s Jubilee.
If the mandate is certainly a sign of “Britishness”, beware, nothing is eternal. The premium bra maker Rigby & Peller lost hers in 2018 after her former owner, June Kenton, revealed in her Memoirs the underside of his first fitting session in the 1980s with the queen. Discretion is key, especially when supplying the royal family.