Upon H.M. The King’s accession to the throne on 14 January 2024, there were 104 designations as “Holder of the Royal Warrant”, “By Appointment to The Royal Danish Court” and other special titles for Danish companies and five for foreign companies. 

The designations were bestowed individually for periods of five years and have been continually extended at the request of the companies. The holders of the Royal Warrant have had access to using the closed royal crown in connection with the title and the company’s name. The designations ceased in connection with the succession of the throne, which appears in “Instructions and guidelines for Royal Warrants” and was also communicated to the companies when the designation was bestowed.

In connection with the succession of the throne, The Royal House of Denmark announced that the designations could be used until the expiry of the five-year period of validity and at least until 14 January 2025, and that a final resolution would subsequently be made on the future arrangement concerning holders of the Royal Warrant. 

Historically, the holder of the Royal Warrant designation was given to companies or tradesmen who continually supplied goods or services to the Court. Since those times, the designation has, to a greater extent, been bestowed as a special recognition of a company based on, among other things, criteria concerning social responsibility and propriety.

It is the view of The Royal House of Denmark that a system which implies that individual companies can claim special recognition from The Royal House of Denmark for a number of years is no longer in keeping with the times.

Add to this that a number of the current holders of the Royal Warrant do not – or only rarely and to a limited extent – supply goods or services to The Royal House of Denmark, and that several of the companies which supply goods or services to The Royal House of Denmark are not on the list of Royal Warrant holders. The expression “purveyor to the Court” is thus no longer an accurate title. 

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 holders of the Royal Warrant have today received information about the changes in the system. 

 

Lene Balleby
Director of Communications