With all the talk about the Royal Wedding at the moment, we thought it might be nice to shed a little light on royal warrants, especially as in its time Yardley London has owned six of them!

The House of Yardley was born in England in the mid-seventeenth century, during the reign of King Charles 1. An entrepreneurial young man named Jonathan Yardley obtained a royal warrant for the provision of all the soap to City of London.

Royal warrants are a mark of recognition to individuals or companies who have supplied goods or a service to HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh or HRH The Prince of Wales for at least five years.

The means by which this particular warrant was obtained are lost to history, however we might suppose it involved payment to the monarch of a sizeable, and no doubt welcome, sum. Probably would be very welcome at the moment knowing how much weddings can cost!

This first incarnation of Yardley was lost, as was so much of the old city, in the Great Fire of London of 1666; save for one detail – that lavender should be used to perfume the soaps.
 
Yardley London currently hold two royal warrants. Being regarded as demonstrating excellence and quality, warrants are highly prized. And we are very proud of ours.