Royal Beauty: Beauty Brands with the Coveted Royal Warrant

Our Thoughts

05/05/2023 by The Red Tree

As we approach the Coronation weekend in the UK we wanted to take a look at some of the beauty brands that have been awarded the Royal Warrant. The Royal Warrant recognises businesses that have supplied goods or services to royal households. Companies must demonstrate not only their credentials of excellence, but also their environmental and social responsibility throughout the supply chain.

There are currently 19 businesses with Royal Warrants in the ‘Health and Beauty’ sector. Here are a selection of those brands and some history of their involvement with the Royal Family

Clarins

French multinational cosmetics company Clarins, founded in Paris in 1954, reportedly made regular deliveries to Buckingham Palace thorough the reign of Her Majesty the Queen. The Queen even commissioned a red lipstick for her 1953 Coronation to match her Robe of State. Aside from their great formulations, Clarins has always been pioneering in it’s approach to sustainable practices which is sure to have been a contributor to the Royal Warrant.

Penhaligon's

Penhaligon's was established in 1869, on Jermyn Street close to St James’s Palace. A few years later founder William Penhaligon was appointed Royal Barber and Perfumer to the Royal Court, during Queen Victoria‘s reign. Later in 1903, Queen Alexandra granted Penhaligon’s its first Royal Warrant, which it still proudly holds today. The brand was acquired by Spanish beauty house Puig from Fox Paine & Company in 2015 for an undisclosed sum. At the time of the sale, Penhaligon’s held two Royal Warrants (including one awarded by the late Philip, Duke of Edinburgh). We would love to have been a fly on the wall to the value attributed to the Royal Warrants within the sale process.

D.R. Harris & Co Ltd

D. R. Harris was founded in 1790 and has been operating in the St. James’s area of London ever since. They specialise in traditional gentleman’s grooming products, particularly shaving soaps, creams, aftershaves, colognes and skincare products. D.R Harris & Co is the oldest pharmacy in London and have held Royal Warrants since 1938 to the late Her Majesty the Queen, The Queen mother and HRH King Charles.

Our Key Observations

While the Royal family does not express political views, King Charles has taken a keen interest in environmental issues from homeopathic medicine to organic farming. We would love to know what he thinks about the ‘clean beauty’ movement.

Observations of the companies reviewed prove the Royal households to be loyal customers who were early adopters of the ‘shopping local’ trend.

While a Royal Warrant is undoubtedly one of my most prestigious awards going, we wonder how closely aligned consumers are to this reputable mark.

Furthermore, we anticipate that there will be further additions of businesses in the Health and Beauty category, to highlight more of the British owned businesses favoured by incoming royal family members.

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