Fortnum's & The Royal Family

Our connection to the Royal family dates back to the very foundation of Fortnum & Mason, with the employment of a man we’re very fond of, Mr William Fortnum. He was hired as Footman at the court of Queen Anne, and as you might expect, it was the sort of job that not only came with perquisites (in the shape of half-used candles), but was passed down the family. The last Fortnum to hold a job at court was Charles Fortnum, born in Epwell in 1738, footman to Queen Charlotte Sophia from 1761 until 1788, and Page of the Presence to Her late Majesty from 1808 until his death in 1814.

Half-used candles? Yes, you did read that correctly. Queen Anne insisted on new candles every night and thus came the legitimate perk for an enterprising footman: palace wax to sell on. By 1707, William's enlightened sideline had melted down into enough to leave royal service and start a business with his landlord Hugh Mason.

As a company, we have never kept customer order records as a matter of routine, so what successive monarchs bought from Piccadilly is shrouded in mystery. However, the first proper order we know about was that of 250lbs of concentrated Beef Tea to be sent to Florence Nightingale ‘without delay…’ in the Crimea in 1855, by royal request of Queen Victoria. And while not strictly speaking medicinal, the Queen nonetheless believed that a little Fortnum’s Beef Tea would provide nourishment to the ailing troops, and a psychological boost too: as a warming, soothing reminder of home.

It was also during Queen Victoria’s reign that we started to proudly display the Royal Arms on our catalogues and packaging (which we still do so today), which assured the world that we were ‘by appointment’.

As you well know, we do enjoy the little luxuries in life, which made us very popular with the future Edward VII. Our roundsmen regularly dropped off supplies of marmalade, exotic fruits, tea and coffee at his London residence, Marlborough House. When he ascended the throne in 1901, we were set the task from King himself to ‘Bring me the finest tea in all of the land,’ not ones to say no, we set off round the globe. From India we brought Assam. From Sri Lanka came Flowery Pekoe. And from this splendid blend of the two comes a little creation you may know as Royal Blend. Previously we created Sandringham Blend coffee, named after his Norfolk estate, and both of these products are still popular and enjoyed to this day. After his death in 1910, his consort, Queen Alexandra, granted us a Royal Warrant in 1910.

George V and Queen Mary were loyal customers of the store, and Queen Mary visited several times after the store expanded in the late 1920s. She and her daughter, Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, did some of their Christmas shopping in person in the store. The staff were proud to serve her, and our Archivist, Dr Andrea Tanner, has only recently required this brilliant picture of Queen Mary and her daughter visiting our Interior Decorating Department.

George and Mary’s children were customers of the store too: the Prince of Wales’s tour of the Dominions on the Royal Yacht in 1919-1920 was provisioned almost entirely by Fortnum’s, down to the portable billiard table that is displayed in our Piccadilly store today. The future Edward VIII was a regular personal customer in the Gift Department, which at the time was a situation on the Lower Ground Floor, now our famous Food Halls.

George VI and Queen Elizabeth both granted us Royal Warrants. The Queen had clothes made for Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret by our children’s clothes designer, Edith Baizel, and she personally undertook Christmas shopping at Piccadilly until she was in her seventies.

The Queen Mother (as she was known after 1952) usually insisted on helping to wrap the goods that she was taking with her, and caused traffic jams of customers trying to catch a glimpse of her. One of the many lovely stories about the Queen Mother and Fortnum’s is that of her seeing a footstool in the window of our Piccadilly store as her car was stuck in traffic outside, and asking if she could buy it. The item was a prop, and not for sale, but we gamely went into the window and removed it for immediate dispatch to her.

We temporarily lost the warrant for King George in 1948, which was understandable, during times of rationing. Thankfully, all was restored in 1951.

Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II continued the family tradition of doing Christmas shopping in store, which had to be arranged months in advance. The list of provisions provided for her and her mother to give as presents reveal a shared practical bent of mind, with breakfast trays, breakfast sets, garden furniture and hostess trolleys being particularly popular. Princess Margaret not only graced the Gift Department regularly (as had her uncle, the Duke of Windsor), but she had her own table in the Fountain restaurant, now 45 Jermyn St, where she would often be seen, cigarette in a long holder, eating her favourite dish of Smoked Salmon with Scrambled Eggs, washed down with a glass of Whisky.

King Charles III is a long time friend of Fortnum’s, and even granted us a warrant when he was the Prince of Wales. His Majesty has visited us on many occasions, most recently to receive an award at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards in 2019. He formally opened the refurbished store in our Tercentenary year in 2007, being thanked with a gift of the first bottle of our exclusive 1707 fragrance. We are particularly proud of the fact that he chose Fortnum’s as his partner in developing the Highgrove brand of goods.

Over the centuries, Fortnum’s has sent Christmas, birthday and wedding gifts to senior members of the royal family, which we hoped would reflect their tastes. Evening bags and scarves were popular from the 1930s until the 1990s and we commissioned some beautiful beehives for King Charles III's 70th birthday, which are now established at Highgrove, and Fortnum’s Hampers designed for newlyweds and new parents have been most recently very well received by the younger generation.

Let’s end this short history with one of the happiest royal days at Fortnum’s, with the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Her Majesty Queen Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Princess of Wales, then the Duchess of Cambridge, on 1 March 2012 for the opening of the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. Their visit culminated in the presentation of three bespoke hampers, each suited to the tastes of the ladies.