Recently, the world witnessed the mother of all parties – the royal fanfare of Queen Elizabeth’s platinum celebration. She has been on the throne for seventy years – such a spectacular display of pomp and circumstance! This led me to wonder which products, especially food, have received the Queen’s “Royal Warrant of Appointment” over time. This is a highly coveted award given to companies who regularly supply goods to HRM the Queen and her households. A company can then proudly display this prestigious appointment on their products with the Queen’s logo of the British Royal Coat of Arms. This award has been ongoing since the 15th century. Here are some of the foods that have been granted the Queen’s Royal Warrant of Appointment:
Twinings of London: Of course, the Queen would grant a royal warrant to a tea company. Her favorites are English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Queen Victoria stamped her seal of approval on Twinings in 1837.
Cadbury: This company is known for their infamous chocolate Easter eggs and Dairy Milk bars. Rumor has it that they produce a unique line of dark chocolates for the royal family every Christmas. They were granted this award in 1955
Heinz: They received the HRM approval in 1951, most likely due their Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.
McIlhenny: The family-owned company makes the world famous hot pepper sauce. Tabasco arrived in the UK in 1874 and the Queen granted the honor in 2009.
Schweppes: Founded in the UK in 1792, it was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment in 1836. They are well known for their tonic water and their lemon and lime natural mineral water.
Maldon: I wrote about this sea salt in a recent column titled “The Queen’s Salt”. The 130 year old company received the warrant in 2012, two years after the Queen visited their salt works in Essex.
Walkers: The Scottish company received the stamp of approval for their shortbread cookies in 2017. Pair them with Twinings Tea for a delicious afternoon pick-me-up.
Carrs: This manufacturer is well known for their Table Water Crackers (what the heck is table water anyway???) They are perfect with cheese because they don’t compete with the flavor. The company received the award in 1841.
Aside from food products, I was surprised to see Yardley London soap on the royal’s list because I’ve seen it at the Dollar Store. When I mentioned this to my friend Linda, she exclaimed “I wonder if the Queen knows it’s only a dollar! This just goes to show that you can live like royalty no matter how much money you have. Curious to know which other products have received the Royal Warrant? Check out www.royalwarrant.org/directory.