Prince Philip Was Banned From Shopping at Harrods
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In 1913, Queen Marry issued a royal warrant to Harrods, the luxury department store in London. Harrods, at one time, boasted four royal warrants: from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles. (Royal warrants give the warrant holder a right to display the Royal Arms, and only a select few can grant royal warrants.)
The Queen herself reportedly used to shop at Harrods, as did other members of the royal family. "Actually, the Queen goes shopping," Anne Glenconner, a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret shared in 1975, as she recounted in her book Lady in Waiting: My Extaordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown. "She recently went to Harrods to choose some Christmas presents. My mother is a Lady of the Bedchamber and she went with her."
Princess Diana also frequented the shop during her time as a royal.
From 1984 to 1997, Harrods served as a sponsor for the Royal Windsor Horse Show, reportedly one of Queen Elizabeth's favorite annual events. Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods "treasured his annual photo-opportunity with the Queen at Windsor," according to the Independent. His enthusiasm is depicted in season five of The Crown, when he wants to sit next to Queen Elizabeth but ends up sitting with Princess Diana.
In real life, Mohamed did get the opportunity to meet the Queen on multiple occasions:
Everything changed in the relationship between Harrods and the royals following the deaths of Princess Diana and Mohamed's son, Dodi Al Fayed.
In 1998, the organizers of the Royal Windsor Horse Show dropped the store as a sponsor. "This was entirely a commercial decision," Simon Brooks-Ward, chairman of Windsor Equestrian Promotions, said at the time. However, the Independent reported it was not entirely a business decision, writing, "there's no secret about the Royal revulsion towards Mr Fayed since the death of Princess Diana and his remarks about an 'Establishment conspiracy.'"
In December 1999, Queen Elizabeth "switched her annual order of 1,500 Christmas puddings for the palace staff from the department store to Tesco, a leading supermarket chain," the New York Times reported.
In January 2000, the royal family's long association with Harrods officially came to an end, when Prince Philip announced he was withdrawing his royal warrant. "The warrant will not be renewed because of the significant decline in the trading relationship between the household and Harrods over several years," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said at the time. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles's royal warrants expired in 2001, and Harrods did not reapply for them.
"No purchases have been made since December 1997, and in these circumstances it would be totally inappropriate for Harrods to apply for the renewal of the royal warrants," Harrods said in a statement at the time. "Since neither the queen nor Prince Charles have shopped in Harrods for several years, displaying the royal crest would be totally misleading and hypocritical." In addition, Fayed's spokesman said, "We feel the commercial impact on Harrods would be negligible. The cachet of royals shopping at Harrods no longer has the same impact."
"We are proud of the Harrods reputation as the world’s finest store and we naturally welcome discerning shoppers from all over the world," Mohamed Al Fayed said in a statement months later. "The royal family, with the exception of Prince Philip, are welcome to shop at Harrods at any time."
The withdrawal of the royal warrants, and the Queen's end of business, was more likely due to Mohamed's spreading of conspiracy theories surrounding the deaths of his son and Princess Diana.
In 2010, Mohamed revealed he had burnt the Harrods royal warrants the year they were revoked, writing, "with regard to the Royal Family visiting Harrods again, I doubt they would dare to show their faces." Yet, the same year, the Fayed family sold Harrods to the Qatari royal family.
In 2018, the Qataris removed the statue of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed that Mohamed had installed in the store, in what some news outlets reported was an effort "to entice the British royals back through its doors."
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