As far back as 2012, the Prince and Princess of Wales have been using the Fulton design. The royal couple were photographed sheltering underneath a black-trimmed one on the red carpet at the War Horse premiere in 2012.
Nigel revealed that, at the start of each season, he was approached by the Queen’s personal assistant and senior dresser Angela Kelly, to design bespoke brollies for the monarch. Her Majesty favoured the transparent birdcage style, a love she inherited from the Queen Mother who was the first royal to carry a Fulton umbrella.
“The Queen’s senior dresser usually sends us swatches of material or colour chips for us to match the coloured border on the birdcage umbrellas,” said Nigel at the time. “We then produce samples for their approval and if no further changes are needed we make up the finished umbrellas.
“Everything we produce for the Queen is bespoke. The specifications are slightly different and the colours are unique and they do not form part of our regular collection.”
The coloured border on the Queen’s umbrellas was actually thinner than the regular birdcage brollies so that she was more visible to wellwishers.
Fulton Umbrellas held a royal warrant to the Queen, and previously the Queen Mother, for years. So is it still exciting to see members of the royal family carrying a birdcage?
“Very much so!” said Nigel, whose father Arnold Fulton set up the business in Whitechapel in 1956. “It’s such an honour to supply umbrellas to the royal family and our usage seems to be getting wider every year.”
