King Charles Red Boxes with new cypher
Jane Kirby, Evening Standard
Tue, 13 September 2022
PIC: Queen Elizabeth in her sitting room at Windsor Castle looking through her diary of engagements, with a famous Red Box by her side (PA) (PA Archive)
The famous Red Boxes, which the King will use for important documents, are currently in production.
The Boxes, made by luxury British leather goods company Barrow Hepburn & Gale, contain a range of papers, including those that require a signature, briefing documents & information about forthcoming meetings.
A spokesman for the firm said The King will initially receive more than six Boxes, all of which will carry the new royal cypher. It is possible that around 10 to 12 Boxes will be made & delivered in phases over the coming months. “Our Despatch Boxes are not only an elegant design but are functional & secure”. Every Box has its own coded lock & is designed to last for many years. The price of the Boxes is never released by Barrow Hepburn & Gale.
The company says on its website that its Boxes “follow their holder around the world, ensuring they can execute the responsibilities of their office”. It adds: “Wherever in the world, the sovereign or minister is, the Red Box is close by. “Our Despatch Boxes are not only an elegant design, but are functional & secure.”
In a Facebook social media post in September 2015, the Royal Family account said The Queen received Red Boxes every day of her reign, including weekends, but not on Christmas Day. The documents were sent from the private secretary’s office to the monarch in locked Boxes, it said. The post also said the Queen was still using in 2015 the boxes which were made for her Coronation in 1953. It said they had been “periodically refurbished” to keep them in a good condition.
Regarding the history of the Boxes, Barrow Hepburn & Gale said the modern role of Boxes in the governance process “has not changed for over a century”. It added: “There are two possible reasons why the Despatch Box became the iconic red colour. “The widely-accepted reason relates to Prince Albert, Consort to Queen Victoria, who is said to have preferred the colour as it was used prominently in the arms of his family, the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
“However, there is a school of thought with origins dating back to the late 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I’s representative Francis Throckmorton presented the Spanish Ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza, with a specially constructed red briefcase filled with black puddings. “It was seen as an official communication from The Queen, & so the colour red became the official colour of the state.”