The Danish Royal Family have announced that they will be scrapping a key tradition that they believe is “no longer in keeping with the times”.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the Royal Family – known in Denmark as Kongehuset – will eventually be removing Royal Warrants under the reign of King Frederik X, 56
Over the years, these warrants have been given to companies or tradesmen who regularly supplied goods or services to the Royal Household, often decided by the monarch.
The aim is to give these businesses special recognition based on, among other things, criteria concerning social responsibility and propriety.
However, The Royal House of Denmark believes this is no longer relevant in modern times, especially as some of the current holders of the Royal Warrant in Denmark no longer regularly supply goods or services to the Royal House of Denmark, while some that do are not Royal Warrant holders.
A statement issued by Kongehuset read: “Against this background, among other things, it is The Royal House of Denmark’s decision that the system of appointing holders of the Royal Warrant will be discontinued and that the current designations will be phased out.
“To give the affected companies time to adapt to the changes, all existing holders of the Royal Warrant will be able to use the designation until 31 December 2029. Thereafter, it will not be possible to use the designation.
“The King and The Queen and the other members of The Royal Family will continue to support the interests of Danish business in a way that considers as many companies and industries as possible.
“This will – as is the case today – take place in connection with, among other things, company visits, conferences and promotional business campaigns abroad.”
The Royal Warrant system is also used by the British Royal Family currently, with no plans in place to change this any time soon.
In the UK, there are currently over 800 Royal Warrant holders who supply goods or services to the Royal Households in Britain on a commercial basis.
The warrants are appointed by the monarch and mean that the business can display the Royal Arms, which must be accompanied by the Legend.
This provides the details of which member of the Royal Family has granted the Royal Warrant, the company name, the nature of the goods or services provided to them and the head office address of the company.
