Danish royal court announces end to the practice of royal warrants

The sweeping changes to the royal warrant system, which dates back to the 1800s, are being widely seen as an attempt to modernise the monarchy under King Frederik X and Queen Mary.

In a statement, Denmark’s royal court said that the labeling system that grants companies the right to use the image of the Danish crown on their letterhead, packaging and labels is to be phased out.

Currently, there are 104 Danish suppliers and five foreign companies who can use such designations and images of the Danish crown on their products.

The five-year renewable designations, including “Holder of the Royal Warrant” and “By Appointment to the Royal Danish Court” and others, will be ended by 31 December 2029, the palace said in a statement.

“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,” the palace said in a statement.

The title was first granted to a company in 1840. Originally, such designations were given to companies or tradesmen who continually supplied goods or services to the royals.

In recent years, however, several of the companies which supply goods or services to the royal household are not on the list of Royal Warrant holders.

King Frederik took over Denmark’s throne last January after his mother, Queen Margrethe II, then Europe’s longest-serving monarch, became the first Danish monarch to voluntarily relinquish the throne in nearly 900 years.

Margrethe surprised the nation when she announced during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech that she would step down for health reasons.

The abdication has left Denmark with two queens: Margrethe keeps her title, while Frederik’s wife becomes Queen Mary. Frederik and Mary’s eldest son Christian, 18, is now the crown prince and heir to the throne.