The Queen’s favourite household brands — from tea to wet weather coats — could be faced with a rebrand after her death last week left a small regal part of their branding null and void under a centuries-old convention.
The Royal Arms is the late Queen Elizabeth II’s seal of approval that features on branding — a stamp that adds royal gravitas to well-known products favoured by the United Kingdom’s monarchy.
Brands can only feature the Queen’s Royal Arms if they have a Royal Warrant of Appointments, and during her reign, Queen Elizabeth greenlit no fewer than 620 of the documents allowing the use of the stamp.
The royal nod was issued to companies and tradespeople, from hoteliers, high fashion, and luxury car makers to fishmongers and agricultural machinery manufacturers.
The tradition dates back to the 15th century and basically acknowledges that an organisation or individual supplies a product or a service to the royal household, though they must have done so for five of the last seven years to qualify.
“Among other things, applicants are also required to demonstrate that they have an appropriate environmental and sustainability policy and action plan,” the Royal Warrant Holders Association added.
It’s not a free-for-all, however. Lord Chamberlain’s rules do dictate some parameters around the Royal Arms and it has a shelf life of just five years, at which point it is be reviewed by the Royal Household Warrant Committee to ensure it remains up to royal standard.
All 620 brands and people will likely reapply to King Charles III and Prince William. If approved by the pair, a new royal arms will be printed upon all packaging (some recipients, like Moet & Chandon and Cadbury, don’t use it on branding).
Here are some brands who will be scrambling to reinstate their royal mark of approval.
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It was the Queen’s favourite tea: Elizabeth reportedly sipped a Twinings English Breakfast each morning.
The British tea brand actually received its first royal stamp of approval back in 1837 from Queen Victoria.
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Perhaps the UK’s most well-known gin brand, Gordon’s Gin posted a reference to the “king” just four days ago.
Gordon’s was founded way back in 1769, and received its first Royal Warrant in 1925 from King George V.
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The luxury champagne first received its Royal Arms more than 130 years ago, accompanied by the phrase “By appointment to Her Majesty”.
At the end of the 19th century, Ludwig Mentzendorff, Jacques Bollinger’s friend and agent, introduced Queen Victoria and her family to the bubbles, and it’s been royally beloved ever since.
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Baked beans are a national treasure in the UK, but it is on the label around the top of a bottle of tomato ketchup where you can spot the Royal Arms.
“By appointment to her majesty the Queen purveyors of Heinz products H.J. Heinz Foods UK ltd. Hayed, Middx,” it reads.
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The quintessentially British brand actually imprints the royal arms onto the insides of its clothes as a tag.
It shows both the Queen and the late Prince Philip’s royal arms, having received the document back in 1955.
Emma Elsworthy is Climate Editor at Crikey, SmartCompany, and The Mandarin, and writes daily morning newsletter the Worm. Before joining Crikey in 2021, Emma was a breaking news reporter in ABC’s Sydney newsroom, a journalist at BBC Australia, and a journalist in Fairfax Media’s regional network. She was part of a team awarded a Walkley for coverage of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire crisis, and won the Australian Press Council prize in 2013.
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