Bid to take ‘royal’ out of smoking

Press, 7 April 1978, Page 13

Bid to take ‘royal’ out of smoking

By

OLIVER GILLIE.

“Sunday Times,” London

Britain's non-smoking Prime Minister James Callaghan faces a delicate problem. He has to decide whether to involve the Queen in the Government’s anti-smoking campaign. The argument is that certain tobacco companies hold royal warrants and are entitled to display the royal coat of arms on their products. This is seen in some circles as rather incongruous in view of the statutory government health warning on every cigarette packet. It is also known that neither the Queen nor any of her immediate family smokes except Princess Margaret. "Hie Queen Mother used to, but she has given up. The last four kings died from diseases associated with smoking. Callaghan has to make up his mind whether to ask the Queen to withdraw the warrants. He has been asked to undertake

the task by the Labour M.P. Mrs Renee Short. She previously asked the Health Minister, David Ennals, but he refused. Mrs Short wrote to Ennals to seek his help when she was blocked from asking questions in the Commons because of a rule forbidding direct mention of the Royal Family. After a delay of two months and a half, Ennals finally replied: “Although a number of the Royal Family do not smoke, they obtain cigarettes for their guests, and suppliers thereby have the right to the royal warrant. “This does not imply endorsement of the product, although that inference may, of course, be drawn. “To seek to have a royal warrant withdrawn

would involve the Queen or other members of the Royal Family in public controversy and expose her or them to the criticism of taking sides. It might do more harm than good. “Further, the words ‘by appointment,’, and the display of the royal coat of arms, probably have only a minimal effect in encouraging people to smoke, or smoke more. All in all, therefore, I think it preferable to let matters rest, much as I sympathise with the thought behind your suggestion.”

Mrs Short was very disappointed with this. “Holders of the royal warrant obtain kudos and respect by displaying the royal coat of arms,” she said. “Smoking causes

50,000 premature deaths a year and 50 million lost working days through illness. It is the greatest single cause of disease and death in Britain. “This is an issue over which anyone might reasonably expect the Royal Family to take sides and promote good health.” Three companies that are “purveyors” of cigarettes or smoking materials to the royal households have the right to display royal warrants. They are the Americanowned Benson and Hedges and South Africancontrolled Dunhill, which have warrants from the Queen, and all-British John Player, which obtained a warrant from the Queen Mother as recently as 1974. Action on Smoking and

Health (A.S.H.), the antismoking pressure group, has been trying to have the royal warrant for cigarette manufacturers revoked since 1971, but has been turned down repeatedly by the Lord Chamberlain. Ronald Alison, a spokesman at Buckingham Palace, said: “The royal warrant does not imply any endorsement by the Queen of any product. “It simply means that the product has been supplied to the royal household for at least three years.” He would not say what brands of cigarettes were provided for guests at the palace and how much the palace paid for them. The director of the Health Education Council, Alistair Mackie, is critical. “Without intending any

disrespect to the Royal Family, I think the royal warrant for cigarette manufacturers is a ghastly contrast to the Government health warning. “It is part of our dotty national charm to do this thing, but it is a stupefying paradox that it should be allowed. The Queen’s name is being misused by the industry. It is positively grotesque.” Mrs Short’s campaign began more than six months ago when the “Sunday Times” revealed that the last four monarchs died through smoking. King George VI died of a heart attack after cancer. His brother, Edward VIII, later the Duke of

Windsor, suffered serious degeneration of the aorta, a condition almost exclusive to smokers, and finally died of cancer of the throat. Their father, George V, and his father, Edward VII, died after many years of crippling chronic bronchitis. All four were heavy smokers. Benson and Hedges, which received its first royal warrant from Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales, pays tribute to the importance of royal patronage in making the company such a success in a history of the company published on its centenary in 1973. Where-

as Queen Victoria’s attitude held back smoking in polite society, it says: “another royal figure did more than anyone else to make smoking respectable. “Edward, Prince of Wales, was an enthusiastic smoker and it was his emergence as the stylish leading light in London life which greatly adv a n c e d sales and profoundly affected the future of Benson and Hedges.” A spokesman for Benson and Hedges, Jane Culver, said: “We feel it is an honour, and we stick to the rules which expressly forbid the use of the warrant as a testimony for the product. “We consult the Lord Chamberlain over the use of it in advertising and in the design of the packets.”