America has a love affair with royalty. True, that whole “Boston Tea Party” episode (and ensuing war of independence) back in the 1700s did throw a wrench into our adoration for a while. But just as Americans have continued to drink tea, we continue to be fascinated by all things kingly and queenly, as shown by the ongoing popularity of our Historic Royal Palaces Tea Collection.Â
How did a tea company in New England wind up making teas for Olde England? Well, there’s a story there. Pour yourself a cup and settle in, as we share the tale of how our Historic Royal Palaces collection came to be.Â
HRP: Keeping Palaces Palatial Â
The independent charity Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) has been tasked with protecting, conserving, and managing six of the United Kingdom’s non-residential royal palaces (Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens), as well as sharing the sites and their stories with the public.Â
Caring for six sites (plus more than 60,000 objects within those sites and over 1,000 acres of green space) isn’t easy work. Nor is it inexpensive.Â
HRP receives no funding from either the government or the Crown. Instead, the nonprofit organization finds various ways to generate its own income. While most of that income is earned by charging visitors a fee to tour its castles, another key revenue source is retail sales…and that’s how we got involved.Â
A Reverse British Invasion
Around 20 years ago, an organization representing Historic Royal Palaces asked our founder, John Harney, if he might be interested in blending a line of teas to support the palaces HRP manages. Though the Harney family’s roots are in Ireland, not England, my grandfather was honored to sign a licensing deal…and today, we’ve grown to become HRP’s largest licensee. As well as offering our tea in their palaces’ gift shops, the nonprofit also sells our products online and uses the royalties (no pun intended) to further its mission.Â
(Incidentally, that long-ago deal between Papa John and HRP also gave our company an early opportunity to increase our exports to England. We’ve since continued our “reverse British Invasion” by building relationships with other establishments, including hotels and grand department stores.)
Though our Historic Royal Palaces Collection began with five teas, it has since expanded to nine. Along the way, we’ve created additional blends to commemorate occasions such as royal weddings, Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee (and later Platinum Jubilee), and the coronation of King Charles.Â
A New Look for Some Old Favorites
From the beginning, the Historic Royal Palaces Collection has featured packaging as distinctive as the teas inside. Our striking eight-sided tins offer a regal presentation, with colors inspired by the famous Crown Jewels in the HRP-managed Tower of London.Â
Not long ago, by HRP’s request, we began updating our collection’s tins to more closely match their organization’s current design practices. But rest assured: inside those newly refreshed octagonal tins are the same tea blends you’ve known and loved for years.Â
The HRP Collection (in All Its Majesty)
The mellow, dark honey flavors of Kenilworth Ceylon blend with the citrus and spice of Kenya Milima to create a smooth, medium-bodied caffeinated brew that’s even more delicious when complemented by milk or sugar.Â
One of our most loved teas, this blend of fine black teas is rich in lemony bergamot. Stronger in body than our Earl Grey Supreme, this caffeinated mixture acknowledges our British cousins’ tastes for stronger teas.Â
Another of our most beloved offerings, Tower of London Blend starts with Chinese black teas, stirs in pieces of dried stone fruit, then finishes with oil of bergamot and honey flavor. Caffeinated, it offers a medium-to-strong body and a fruity aroma with notes of vanilla and honey.
Traditionally, a London Fog tea is an Earl Grey served with steamed milk. Our version (selected from thousands of entries in a customer creation contest) is a caffeinated, full-bodied blend rich in aroma and flavor, offering sweet notes of vanilla complemented by bergamot and lavender undertones.
A lovely blend of dark tea with notes of lemon, grapefruit, and bergamot, this brew was specially commissioned by the HRP, who asked us to create a blend in the style of those sipped by former residents of their historic palaces. A medium-bodied brew in which citrus notes top a mellow tea flavor.
Peppermint was first identified in Hertfordshire, England in the 17th century. Our leaves, sourced from Washington State, create a caffeine-free, light-bodied herbal tea (or tisane, if you prefer) that offers a clean, minty aroma and a strong, refreshing flavor.Â
Green Tea with Coconut, Ginger and Vanilla
Inspired by the rich flavors of Thailand (a trade partner with England since the 17th century), this tasty, caffeinated blend, also known as Organic Bangkok, combines green tea with subtle notes of coconut, ginger, vanilla, and lemongrass.Â
This assertive blend of black teas, orange peel, sweet cloves, and three different kinds of cinnamon is our most popular flavored tea worldwide. Alternately known as Hot Cinnamon Sunset, this caffeinated, medium-bodied tea (with no added sugars) unfolds into a warm, aromatic blend of spices.
This decaffeinated version of our best-selling Hot Cinnamon Spice features the same assertive flavors: three times of cinnamon, orange peel, and sweet cloves, but with a decaf black tea base. Despite its rich flavor, this tea, like its caffeinated counterpart, contains no added sugar.
Supporting Gems and Thames Â
We’re proud to be part of HRP’s efforts to care for its historic sites (and if you’d like to learn more about those remarkable properties, we invite you to read our previous post on this collection). Â
We’re also honored to support Thames21, a charity dedicated to restoring the Thames River (which, by a happy coincidence, flows past Hampton Court Palace, one of HRP’s sites). Through our involvement with 1% for the Planet, we’ve been able to donate more than six million dollars to environmental causes. Both my uncle Paul and my brother Bert have raced rowing shells on the Thames, making it especially meaningful for our family to help Thames21 improve this iconic waterway.
We hope you’ll enjoy a tea from our Historic Royal Palaces collection soon…and take pleasure in knowing that each sip of this everyday luxury will help preserve England’s heritage for generations to come.
A Princely Offer on Royal Teas
Starting February 19, when you buy three or more tins from our Historic Royal Palaces collection, you’ll get an automatic discount of 25% taken off your HRP collection teas! Act quickly, though…this limited-time offer expires March 4, 2026.
