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A Royal Warrant of Appointment, to give
a Royal Warrant its full title, is the formal acknowledgement,
on the part of the Sovereign, that a satisfactory trading
arrangement exists with a commercial company. The special
relationship between “trade” and the monarchy
is as old as time itself and, within the UK, Royal Warrants
have existed in one form or another since the Middle
Ages.
In the 12th century, trades and crafts obtained royal
patronage in a collective manner by means of Royal Charters.
The first known Royal Charter was granted to the Weavers’
Company by Henry II in 1155. By the time Elizabeth I
came to the throne, individual tradesmen were being
appointed to the Court by means of “Letters Patent”.
By the 18th century, those tradesmen, who supplied the
Royal Household, were being formally recorded in the
Royal Kalendar ( an annual almanac a bit like
Wisden) that listed the establishments of State. In
the 1789 edition, for example, those listed include:
a Ratkiller, Pinmaker, Spatterdash Maker and Watchmaker.
A record of the official grant to use the Royal Arms
in connection with business first appears during the
reign of William IV, but it was during the reign of
Queen Victoria that the institution of the Royal Warrant
of Appointment began to evolve into the form that exists
today. In essence, a Royal Warrant confers on the Warrant
Holder (or Grantee), who must be a director of the company
concerned, the right to display the Royal Arms in connection
with their business. This can include, for instance,
their premises, product and packaging, vehicles, stationery
and advertising.
William Caxton, the first
English printer, received an early version of the
Royal Warrant when he was appointed the King’s
printer in 1476 |
However, in order to protect the Royal Family from
commercial exploitation, the ways in which the Royal
Arms may be used are carefully defined in what are known
as The Royal Chamberlain’s Rules. It is the Sovereign
who decides which members of the Royal Family may grant
Warrants (the Grantors). For the time being, they are
the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales.
Warrants are granted for five years, after which time
they are reviewed, and they survive for five years following
the death of a Grantor. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s
Warrants will remain extant until the end of 2007.
To apply for a Royal Warrant, a company or sole trader
must have supplied goods or services, on a regular basis,
to those members of the Royal Family who have the power
to grant Warrants, or their Households, for a period
of not less than five years. Applications are initially
scrutinised by a committee chaired by The Lord Chamberlain,
although the Grantor always makes the final decision.
While companies may hold Warrants from more than one
Grantor – and some indeed hold all four –
the Grantors only ever issue one Warrant to a company.
There are some 850 Warrant-holding companies in total.
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The Royal Warrant Holders Association
At some point, towards the end of George IV’s
reign, the royal tradesmen had begun the practice of
holding a dinner in London to celebrate the King’s
birthday. The tradition continued when Queen Victoria
came to the throne and three years later, in 1840, they
decided to band together into a formal organisation.
Its original title was “The Royal Tradesmen’s
Association for the Annual Celebration of Her Majesty’s
Birthday”. The word “Tradesmen” no
longer features in the title of The Royal Warrant Holders
Association – but the Victorians were proud to
be tradesmen and specifically excluded the professions
such as doctors and lawyers from their organisation.
The original membership was 25.
Queen Victoria must have been enthusiastic about the
granting of Warrants. When she became Queen, there were
no more than 100 royal tradesmen. But at the height
of her reign, she and her close family had granted almost
2,000 Warrants. As the number of Warrant holders increased,
so did the membership of the Association. As the numbers
grew, so the members became less concerned with organising
a good dinner (although that still happened) and more
concerned with protecting their rights and privileges
as Warrant Holders.
“Policing” the use of the Royal Arms by
unscrupulous businesses became a serious issue and eventually,
in 1907, the present Association was incorporated by
Royal Charter and empowered to litigate on behalf of
The Lord Chamberlain. In that year alone the Association
confronted over 300 cases of misuse – and the
following year, in 1908, there were 400 cases. Although
that number was never exceeded, policing the Warrant
was the principal concern of the Association during
the first half of the 20th century. The passing of the
Trade Marks Act and the Trade Descriptions Act eventually
resolved the problem when use of the Royal Arms became
protected by law.
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Today, the Association still performs a “policing”
role, but in terms of the law it is much diminished.
Its function is still to protect and promote the interests
of its members and it does this largely by ensuring
that The Lord Chamberlain’s Rules, which in turn
govern the use of the Royal Arms, are meticulously adhered
to. There is also a thriving social side to the work
of the Association, which has local branches in Aberdeen,
Edinburgh, Sandringham and Windsor.
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship
Trust
The initiative of which the Association is most proud
was the establishment of a charitable trust in 1990
to mark its 150th anniversary and the 90th birthday
of The Queen Mother, in whose name it was formed –
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. Its aim was,
and is, to further the advancement in the UK of both
modern and traditional crafts and trades. To this end,
the Trust awards Scholarships to tradesmen and women
to enable them to acquire new or additional skills through
advanced or specialist training. Since 1991, it has
awarded a total of £825,000 to 135 men and women
aged between 17 and 50.
To find out more about the Association and its charitable
work visit: www.rwha.co.uk
or www.qest.org.uk
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