London’s Royal Chocolatiers

Charbonnel & Walker pink marc de champagne truffles
Credit: Charbonnel & Walker

Who can resist the temptation of luscious chocolate? Not even Queen Elizabeth, it seems!

Tucked away in London’s West End are two very special chocolatiers – Prestat and Charbonnel et Walker – whose chocolates can be found in the London’s Royal Chocolatiers household.

The London’s Royal Chocolatiers

Tucked away in London’s Mayfair are two very special chocolatiers: Charbonnel et Walker and Prestat. Walking into their shops is a mouthwatering experience, with rows and rows of delicious handmade chocolates on display.

There is also a coveted royal sign, indicating that they have warrants to supply the London’s Royal household. Such warrants are not easy to obtain, and are regularly checked to ensure every company meets stringent requirements.

Summer House Collection Milk and Pink Marc de Champagne
Summer House Collection Milk and Pink Marc de Champagne. Credit: Charbonnel & Walker

A Royal Fondness for Chocolate

While no one will reveal exactly what chocolates appeal most to the Queen, there have been some hints dropped! A recent TV documentary ‘The Wonderful World of Chocolate’ revealed that the Queen has a fondness for floral chocolates, especially Rose and Violet creams. When Prince William and Prince Harry were children, Princess Diana used to buy them Charbonnel & Walker Easter eggs.

Prestat has held its Royal Warrant since 1975 and is well known for its delicious truffles with flavors including London Gin and Black Forest. Dark chocolate is believed to be a special favorite.  Prestat’s Nic Crean says, “We sent a box of dark chocolate wafers to the Queen to try and got a letter back from the Palace saying they had disappeared upstairs and never came back down again!”

A Forgotten Easter [Egg]

Easter eggs have also proved popular. The company discovered one year when they accidentally forgot to send one as a gift to the Palace. In an interview with the Daily Express, Nick Crean recalled that memorable moment.

He explained “You have to write to the Palace and say ‘Your Majesty, we would like to present you with an egg’ and they always reply saying, “we would very much like to receive an egg.”

This happened for several years. Then the unthinkable happened. They forgot about it.

Boite Blanche Charbonnel et Walker
Boite Blanche by Charbonnel et Walker.

He continued, “On the Monday morning before Easter, I got a call saying, ‘Hello, this is the Lady in Waiting to the Queen. When I realized it was real, I said ‘Oh, can I help you?” She said, ‘Yes, I think you can. Where is our egg?” Oh my goodness, I knew exactly where it was and I said we would get it to Buckingham Palace immediately. But the nice thing about it is that they really wanted the egg!”

When in London, drop into Charbonnel & Walker’s Bond Street store or Prestat’s store on Piccadilly, and discover the chocolates that truly have London’s Royal Chocolatiers appeal!

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Angela Youngman
Angela Youngman is a UK based freelance journalist specialising in food & drink, travel, tourism and leisure. Her travels, together with her love of good, local food has resulted in lots of fascinating experiences throughout Europe. Whether learning to make gin and cider, or discovering the delights of specialist cheeses and idiosyncratic markets and producers; it is a constant adventure into a world of brilliant food and drink. Add to that the fun of finding out about the history and heritage of food and how it has affected lives across the centuries.