Fortnum & Mason: The Story of the Royal Grocer

On the corner of Piccadilly stands a shop the colour of a duck’s egg, where the doormen wear tailcoats and the tea is still sold by the leaf. Fortnum & Mason has held that address, in one form or another, for more than three centuries, and few names on any High Street carry quite the same air of unhurried, well-bred confidence.

Look up as the hour strikes and the building performs its party piece. High above the entrance, two figures glide out from a great green clock, nod gravely to one another and slip back inside. They are Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason, the footman and the grocer whose partnership began the whole story, and who still, in their fashion, keep an eye on the shop they founded.

It is a fitting welcome to a place that has always understood that fine food is partly about flavour and partly about theatre. This is the tale of the royal grocer: how it began, how it earned the Crown’s favour, and why a duck-egg-blue corner of Piccadilly remains one of the most beloved addresses in London.

A footman with an eye for business

Fortnum & Mason traces its founding to 1707, the partnership of William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. Fortnum was a footman in the household of Queen Anne, a position that placed him close to the rhythms and appetites of the royal court. According to the firm’s own history, the Queen insisted on fresh candles each evening, and Fortnum (charged with replacing them) took to selling on the considerable quantity of half-used wax. From that enterprising sideline grew enough capital to leave royal service and set up in trade.

His landlord was Hugh Mason, who kept a small shop near St James’s Market. The two went into partnership, and the grocer’s name above the door has read the same ever since. Fortnum’s years in royal service gave the new business something money could not easily buy: an intimate understanding of what the court liked to eat and how it liked to be served. That instinct for fine provisions and faultless presentation became the house style, and it has never really changed.

The royal connection and the Warrants

The thread to the palace ran through the generations. A later Fortnum, Charles, is recorded as having entered the service of Queen Charlotte in the 1760s, and the court connection helped the shop flourish as a supplier of the finest and most exotic provisions of the age.

That long relationship endures in the most formal way the monarchy bestows: the Royal Warrant, a mark of recognition granted to firms that supply the royal households. In May 2024, Fortnum & Mason was granted two new Warrants in the early months of the new reign: appointed Grocers and Tea Merchants to His Majesty The King, and Grocers and Provision Merchants to Her Majesty The Queen. They were among the first Warrants of King Charles III’s reign, a notable honour for a house that had not received a new Warrant in some years. (Warrant arrangements are reviewed periodically and can change over time.)

The famous hampers

Of all Fortnum’s creations, none is more recognisable than the hamper. The wicker basket, packed tight with the best of the Food Hall and finished with a ribbon, has become shorthand for a certain kind of British generosity. Its roots reach back to the firm’s early centuries, when provisions were boxed up for travellers heading to country estates, spa towns and the great sporting fixtures of the calendar.

The tradition carried Fortnum’s far beyond the dining table. Hampers and provisions were despatched to soldiers in the field and to explorers at the edge of the map; the firm’s supplies are said to have accompanied expeditions of remarkable ambition, including mountaineering parties of the 1920s. Today the hamper is a fixture of the British summer (a familiar sight at Ascot, Wimbledon and Henley) and one of the most coveted Christmas gifts a person can receive, each one assembled to be opened slowly and savoured.

The Food Hall and the Scotch egg

Step inside and the ground-floor Food Hall unfolds in a glow of polished wood, glass cabinets and the famous eau de nil packaging. Here are the teas and coffees, the preserves and biscuits, the chocolates and confections that have made the name: provisions chosen, as ever, for quality first and presentation a close second.

One Food Hall legend deserves special mention. The Scotch egg (a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and fried) is said to have been invented by Fortnum’s in 1738, conceived as a portable bite for travellers setting out on long coach journeys. Whether or not the firm can claim sole authorship, the story is a charming one and very much in character: a clever, practical, thoroughly British solution to the question of how to eat well on the move. Nearly three centuries on, the Scotch egg remains a picnic and pub staple the length of the country.

The clock that tells the story

Above the Piccadilly entrance hangs the shop’s most theatrical flourish: the great Fortnum & Mason clock, added in 1964. Every hour, to a peal of chimes, two metre-high figures of Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason emerge and bow to one another before retreating: a mechanical curtsey to the men who started it all. The bells, the firm notes, were cast at the same foundry as those of Big Ben, which lends the small spectacle a rather grand voice.

The clock has become one of Piccadilly’s quiet landmarks, the sort of thing Londoners point out to visitors and pause beneath themselves when the hour is near. It captures, in brass and chimes, exactly what Fortnum’s does so well: it takes a piece of its own history and turns it into a moment of delight, performed on the hour, free to anyone passing by.

Afternoon tea at the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon

Fortnum’s and tea are inseparable, so it is fitting that the flagship’s afternoon tea carries a royal name. The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon opened on 1 March 2012, and was opened by Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to mark her Diamond Jubilee year, accompanied by senior members of the royal family. The salon’s name records that royal occasion in the most permanent way a tearoom can.

Afternoon tea here is the full performance: tiered stands of finger sandwiches, scones and patisserie, and a tea list drawn from the same blends that have built Fortnum’s reputation, all poured against the soft green and gold of the room. It is a quintessentially London ritual (celebratory, generous and beautifully presented) and one of the most charming ways to spend an afternoon in the West End.

Visiting Fortnum & Mason

The Piccadilly flagship, long associated with the 181 Piccadilly address, sits in the heart of St James’s, an easy stroll from Green Park and Piccadilly Circus and within sight of the Royal Academy. It is as much a place to wander as to shop: several floors of Food Hall, homeware, accessories and dining, topped by the tea salon and restaurants above.

Time a visit to catch the clock on the hour, browse the Food Hall for a tin of tea or a box of biscuits to carry home, and, if the day allows, book ahead for afternoon tea, which is deservedly popular. Whether the errand is a single jar of marmalade or a hamper fit for a celebration, the experience is the same: the sense of stepping into a shop that has been getting the small things exactly right for a very long time.

A certain idea of British elegance

Part emporium, part institution, Fortnum & Mason endures because it sells more than food. It offers a particular idea of British life (unhurried, hospitable, beautifully wrapped) and it has been refining that idea since the reign of Queen Anne. Few shops anywhere can claim three centuries of royal favour, a clock that bows on the hour and a Scotch egg in its origin story, all on a single duck-egg-blue corner of Piccadilly.

Browse our Royal Warrant Brands stories to meet more of the great British names that have earned the Crown’s approval.

Frequently asked questions

When was Fortnum & Mason founded?

Fortnum & Mason was founded in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. The firm’s own history notes that Mason kept a small shop near St James’s Market, and that the partnership began there.

Who was William Fortnum?

William Fortnum was a footman in the household of Queen Anne who built a sideline reselling the half-used candle wax left over from the royal apartments. The proceeds helped him leave royal service and go into trade with his landlord, Hugh Mason.

Where is Fortnum & Mason located?

The flagship store stands on Piccadilly in London’s St James’s, at the address long associated with 181 Piccadilly. It is close to Green Park and Piccadilly Circus and a short walk from the Royal Academy.

Does Fortnum & Mason hold a Royal Warrant?

Yes. In May 2024 the firm was granted two Royal Warrants: as Grocers and Tea Merchants to His Majesty The King, and as Grocers and Provision Merchants to Her Majesty The Queen. They were among the first Warrants of King Charles III’s reign. Warrant arrangements are reviewed periodically and can change.

Did Fortnum & Mason invent the Scotch egg?

Fortnum & Mason is said to have invented the Scotch egg in 1738, as a portable snack for travellers setting out on coach journeys. The claim is a long-standing part of the firm’s history, though the dish’s exact origins are debated.

What is the Fortnum & Mason clock?

The clock above the Piccadilly entrance was added in 1964. On the hour, metre-high figures of Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason emerge to chimes and bow to one another. The bells were cast at the same foundry as those of Big Ben.

What is the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon?

It is Fortnum & Mason’s afternoon tea salon, which opened on 1 March 2012 and was opened by Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during her Diamond Jubilee year. It serves traditional afternoon tea drawn from the house’s celebrated blends.

Are Fortnum & Mason hampers a long-standing tradition?

Yes. The wicker hamper dates back to the firm’s early centuries, when provisions were packed for travellers and country journeys. Today hampers are a fixture of the British summer season and a much-loved Christmas gift.

Source note: this article draws on Fortnum & Mason’s official history (fortnumandmason.com) and the Royal Warrant Holders Association (royalwarrant.org), with supporting reference works. Dates and attributions described as “said to be” reflect long-standing accounts that are not fully documented. Royal Warrant status is reviewed periodically and can change; details are correct as of 2026.