“BY APPOINTMENT ”

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4219, 4 December 1939, Page 3

“BY APPOINTMENT ”

* MEANING OF THE TERM. At no time since Prince Albert began to put the domestic arrangements of the royal household in order, have Royal Warrants to supply Their Majesties with goods, been harder to obtain than now. Within recent years, there has been a tightening up of already strict rules; tradesmen find it harder than ever to obtain the right to use the words “By Appointment,” and place the royal arms upon their premises. The number of those who would like to secure the coveted right, does not diminish, however, and the Comptroller of the King’s Household, who is head of Their Majesties domestic arrangements, still deals with a great many applications from Home and overseas. The tradesman who has a chance of supplying certain goods to the King or Queen, must first of all supply details of his standing and reliability. He will then probably be requested to supply the goods in question for a certain period, and at the end of that time, if everything is satisfactory, it will be recommended to the King or Queen as the case may be, that a Warrant of Royal Appointment be issued. The Warrant is sent out from the office of the Privy Purse, or one of the other departments of the Royal Household, according to the nature of the goods being supplied. The granting of a Warrant does not give a tradesman the right to advertise the fact beyond printing the Royal Arms and the words “By Appointment,” on his notepaper, or displaying them above his premises. He is not allowed to give any details of business transactions with the Royal Household. When the Duke of Windsor

j was Prince of Wales, he used to • smoke cigarettes made in plain paper, I for it would have been possible to 1 secure a butt, thus discovering for 1 advertising purposes what> cigarettes ; he smoked. j A Warrant lapses on the death of the holder, since it is granted only to an individual, and not to any firm or ; business. In many cases the Warrant is reissued, but this is not automatic. The appointment also comes to an end on the death of the sovereign granting it, but, here again, re-issue is generally allowed by the ; new sovereign. That the management ' of supplies to the Royal Household ; and the granting of Warrants is on - such a business-like basis to-day, is . largely due to Queen Victoria’s Consort, Prince Albert. Before he took in hand business matters relating to the management of the household and palaces, a great number of abuses had set in. When Prinee Albert had completed his inquiries, many people lost their warrants, he also discovered that many people used the magic phrase “By Appointment” without a title of right. In order to further the work of the Comptroller of the Household, the Association of Her Majesty’s tradesmen came into being Her Majesty being Queen Victoria. Later the style changed to the Association of Royal / Warrant Holders. A certain number “ of foreign firms are holders of the Royal Warrant, but it is curious that many applications come from a country which has no royalty of its own —the United States. Almost cease- ' less efforts have been made by one or two American firms, to be able to dazzle their customers in their own country, with the words “ By Ap- 1 pointment to the King of England.” . The Royal Warrant Holders’ Association holds an annual luncheon of rep J resentatives, the day chosen always being His Majesty’s birthday.