Fit for a queen: rose and violet cream truffle chocs (Image: Fortnum & Mason)
Celebrating the global communities of the Commonwealth and the vibrant beauty of the Earth, eat, drink and keep is its all-embracing theme.
With intricately designed teaware, timeless collectables, and a host of delicious treats and tipples plus to die-for hampers, the Coronation range showcases the best in British quality and craftsmanship, celebrating a variety of independent, homegrown suppliers, as well as showcasing a host of international flavours.
Fortnum’s has commissioned artists Lucy Morrish and Jethro Buck to create the highly detailed artwork featured on the collection’s packaging.
Both artists have used traditional methods to take inspiration from the iconography of royal pageants and ceremonies throughout the centuries to decorate commemorative tins and teaware with an array of animals from Commonwealth nations.
Morrish, an artist who specialises in panel painting, has used traditional techniques learnt at the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts to paint using hand-made watercolour mineral and earth pigments on vellum; her favourite design is the intricate white hart which decorates the box of Blanc de Blancs Champagne.
A fellow graduate of the school, Jethro Buck specialises in Indian miniature painting and has explored the natural world in incredible detail using hand-ground natural pigments to paint peacocks, leopards and herons for the celebratory range.
Fortnum’s has worked with scribe and Illuminator to HM Crown Office at the House of Lords, Timothy Noad, who has designed a bespoke script for Fortnum & Mason, for the collection’s text as well painting a heraldic crown that proudly adorns each product of the commemorative collection.
“We are delighted to announce the launch of our Coronation collection, a range that we hope reflects His Majesty The King’s dedicated passion for craft, the arts, and the environment,” says Fortnum & Mason’s chief executive Tom Athron.
“Our team has considered every fine detail to make this commemorative collection one that we hope our customers across the world will appreciate and treasure, from the bees who make our honey in Queen Camilla’s Wiltshire Garden, to the intricate detailing of the hand-embossed pewter tins that hold our English Rose Sweets.”
Elegant accessory: silk twill scarf (Image: Fortnum & Mason)
What to discover:
Collectible Collectibles
This limited-edition commemorative range has been handmade in Stoke on Trent by a Royal-Warrant holding factory, Halcyon Days and Caverswall China.
Today, Halcyon Days is one of only fourteen companies in the world to hold all three Royal Warrants, as suppliers of Objets d’Art.
This important relationship sets the high standard of British craftsmanship and design that Halcyon Days is dedicated to maintaining.
Confectionery
Fortnum & Mason’s Coronation sweet treats include a giant chocolate coin in a beautiful, embossed tin and a keepsake musical box that plays ‘God Save The King’ filled with seven biscuits blended with ingredients from Fiji (ginger), Canada (cranberry and orange), South Africa (macadamia nut) and Scotland (ling heather honey).
English rose sweets crown this collection, as delicate Welsh rosewater sweets are packed into a gorgeous tin made from Sheffield pewter.
Tea and Coffee
Indian Darjeeling is known as the ‘Champagne of teas’ for its complexity and muscatel character.
It sits beside a celebration of East African arabica, grown in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania – whose farmers expertly grow some of the best quality coffee on the planet.
Sip and drift away to sandy shores with a new pineapple, coconut and rum infusion inspired by the tropical flavours of the Caribbean.
Grocery
Evoking visions of the wild Scottish landscapes in flavour and origin, the Fortnum’s Caledonia fruitcake features whisky from a distillery nestled on the Balmoral estate and honey harvested from hives in Royal Deeside.
Taste the iconic, organic potted blue stilton from family-run producer Cropwell Bishop, based in Nottinghamshire.
Discover a delicious preserve featuring strawberries, cherries, redcurrants, and raspberries, which create the perfect accompaniment for clotted-cream scones and Victoria sponge cakes.
Royal Warrant holder Camel Valley has been producing award-winning English wines in Cornwall since 1989, and the 100 per cent chardonnay sparkling wine has been created exclusively for Fortnum’s to deliver an elegant cuvee.
Next, the Brut champagne releases light notes of candied citrus fruits and Mirabelle plum brandy.
Expect a sizeable aromatic bouquet with aromas of lemon sorbet, blood orange and almonds.
The celebratory whisky from Royal Brackla offers elegant, herbal, and slightly honeyed notes.
This Highland distillery is one of only two active distilleries to hold the ‘Royal’ suffix, having been the first to receive a Royal Warrant when King William IV chose it to be his whisky at the Royal Court in 1833.
Hampers and homeware
A hand-printed all-cotton tea towel made by Ulster Weavers, who have held the Royal Warrant as suppliers of kitchen textiles to Queen Elizabeth II since 1995.
The fine bone china used in Fortnum’s exquisite tea sets is tribute to the enduring excellence of traditional British craftsmanship.
Made in Stoke-on-Trent in the heart of the historic English Potteries, its elegant design combines tea leaves from the camellia sinensis plant with elements from the Royal Oak tree, a symbol of the British monarchy dating back to the 17th century.
The Queen Consort Capsule Collection
To complement the Coronation collection, a capsule collection named ‘The Queen Consort Range’ has been dedicated to Queen Camilla and her love of the rural outdoors, “I’d be out in my garden all day, every day if I were allowed”.
It features a ‘Lily of the Valley’ candle, a luxurious silk twill scarf, decadent rose and violet cream truffles and zesty, citrus honey from the hive in Queen Camilla’s private garden.
The Queen Consort capsule collection is perfect for those who want to enjoy the taste and aroma of a countryside garden in Wiltshire.
Founded in London in 1707 after Queen Anne gave her footman William Fortnum permission to sell on discarded candles from St James’s Palace, Fortnum’s has its own illustrious heritage where it has had the privilege to enjoy a close relationship with the British Royal household ever since – holding several warrants throughout its history, including two from Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales.
A London retail institution and pioneer in the hospitality sector, innovation has always been a central pillar at Fortnum’s.
From inventing the Scotch egg and providing supplies to the 1922 Everest expedition, to beekeeping in Piccadilly’s rooftop hives and launching the Food & Drink Awards to celebrate people and talent, Fortnum’s has been a trusted disruptor and authority in the food and drink space, at home and internationally, from the very beginning.
Every year, millions of people from around the world visit its Piccadilly flagship to enjoy Fortnum’s famous afternoon tea and shop its extraordinary food, gift and fragrance halls.
The iconic brand is celebrated for its teas, Scotch eggs, hand-made chocolates, and wicker hampers – each of which play a large part in its centuries of history – and today remains committed to imagination and discovery.
Proud of its storied past and innovating still, Fortnum’s declares its mission remains to make joy for every customer, whether they’re shopping in-store or from around the world at the award-winning www.
