They've lost their royal support! Bra-fitter to the Queen Rigby & Peller is stripped of title as official supplier after founder's tell-all memoir about palace fittings

  • Rigby & Peller, based in Kensington, can no longer display royal coat of arms
  • Former owner June Kenton's tell-all book gave details of Queen's bra fittings
  • She claimed Diana accepted lingerie posters to give princes William and Harry 

The upmarket underwear company that supplied lingerie to the Queen has had its warrant scrapped after a tell-all book gave details of royal fittings.

Rigby & Peller held the royal warrant for 57 years, but was stripped of support when June Kenton, who transformed it into a world-leading retailer, wrote a book about her work.

The 82-year-old stayed on the firm's board and continued to fit the Queen's bras at Buckingham Palace even when Belgian company Van de Velde bought her majority stake in 2011.

June Kenton's tell-all book on her professional relationship with the Queen and other Royals offered details of royal bra fittings 

June Kenton's tell-all book on her professional relationship with the Queen and other Royals offered details of royal bra fittings 

Her professional relationship with Queen Elizabeth II came to an end shortly after her book - title Storm in a D-Cup - was published in March 2016, according to the Daily Express.

Mrs Kenton bought Rigby & Peller with her husband in 1982, paying £20,000, but sold her stake for £8million 29 years later. 

It was revealed on Tuesday her company lost the royal warrant that it had held since 1960 because she wrote about fitting the Queen, detailing she was half-dressed at the time and that the fitting was carried out in front of her corgis.

She also offered intimate details about fittings with Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. 

Self-proclaimed 'boobologist' Mrs Kenton's book revealed details of the Queen's semi-naked bra fittings

Self-proclaimed 'boobologist' Mrs Kenton, left, published a tell-all book, right, which also revealed that Diana used to accept posters of models in lingerie for her sons to display in their rooms at Eton

Harrods and Hoover among firms to lose their royal warrants

Rigby & Peller is the latest in a list of firms to have their royal warrant rescinded.

Volkswagen was forced to drop the royal warrant in 2015 over the emissions scandal which saw more than a million cars recalled in Britain, including 12 owned by the Queen. 

Before that, the Hoover Company had its seal taken away in 2004 following a BBC documentary about its infamous free flights promotion 12 years before.

Harrods department store told Buckingham Palace it would not be applying to have its royal warrants renewed in 2000.

The store's former owner Mohamed al-Fayed chose to end the store's links to the royal family following the death of his son, Dodi, and Princess Diana in 1997.

Other companies to lose its warrant include Austin Reed clothing, Atco lawnmowers, Caleys department store and Wren's Super Wax Shoe Polish.

The royal warrant is removed from Harrods after Mohamed al-Fayed chose to end the store's links to the royal family following the death of his son, Dodi, and Princess Diana

The royal warrant is removed from Harrods after Mohamed al-Fayed chose to end the store's links to the royal family following the death of his son, Dodi, and Princess Diana

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Mrs Kenton dubbed herself 'the UK’s leading boobologist' in a bid to promote the book, adding that 'even the grandest ladies need to be well-supported' and describing the first time she fitted the 91-year-old monarch.

She also revealed the Queen Mother told her that Princess Margaret enjoyed interfering in her choice of hats, but that she always managed to get her own way.

'Shall I tell you what I do?' the Queen Mother asked Mrs Kenton. 'I pretend to listen to Margaret and then, once she has gone, I order what I want.'

In interviews Mrs Kenton revealed that Diana not only came for fittings, but ordered swimsuits designed in Israel and accepted posters showing models in lingerie and swimwear for princes William and Harry to display in their Eton studies.

Russell Tanguay, director of warrants at the Royal Warrant Holders Association, confirmed yesterday that the Knightsbridge-based retailer had lost its warrant.

Mr Tanguay said companies are granted a window in which to remove the royal coat of arms, which is earned when a firm has supplied the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, or Prince Charles for five out of the last seven years.

Rigby & Peller's flagship store in Kensington, West London, which will no longer be able to display the coat of arms

Rigby & Peller's flagship store in Kensington, West London, which will no longer be able to display the coat of arms

Storm in a D-Cup even offered an account of Queen Elizabeth II's first bra fitting with the company, whose flagship store is in Kensington, west London

Storm in a D-Cup even offered an account of Queen Elizabeth II's first bra fitting with the company, whose flagship store is in Kensington, west London

The lingerie company has also counted Margaret Thatcher and Joan Collins among its customers 

The lingerie company has also counted Margaret Thatcher and Joan Collins among its customers 

A model show off Rigby & Peller lingerie in a poster of the kind Mrs Kenton says Princess Diana took home for William and Harry 

A model show off Rigby & Peller lingerie in a poster of the kind Mrs Kenton says Princess Diana took home for William and Harry 

The royal coat of arms must be removed from any promotional material and shop signs.

Mrs Kenton and her company have has also served Margaret Thatcher and Joan Collins.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: 'In respect of Royal Warrants, we never comment on individual companies.'

Rigby & Peller bras can cost more than £100, with briefs almost as expensive.

Seal of success: What is a Royal Warrant and who hands them out?

On 25 May, 1840, Queen Victoria’s most favoured tradesmen met for dinner to celebrate the monarch’s 21st birthday. That gathering marked the beginnings of today’s Royal Warrant Holders Association, whose members boast the most prestigious client list in the world.

There are about 850 Royal Warrant holders today, by appointment to the Queen, the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Edinburgh.

This elite band, who must have supplied one of the three most senior royals for at least five years to be granted a warrant, comprises craftsmen and family businesses but also multinational companies and a supermarket chain – Her Majesty shops at Waitrose, as well as department stores (John Lewis, Selfridges and House of Fraser) and, famously, the upmarket Piccadilly grocers, Fortnum & Mason.

The original Mr Fortnum, a footman in Queen Anne’s household in the early 18th century, had a sideline selling half-used candles from the Palace (the Royal Family insisted on having new candles every night). Her Majesty’s warrant holders are just as enterprising today. For instance, West Sussex-based Milborrow Chimney Sweeps, who clean the Palace chimneys, can also provide a chimney sweep and a lucky black cat to attend weddings.

Virtually every type of goods and service is covered by a Royal Warrant, from toothpaste to coal, and, of course, the Queen’s clothes – there are warrant holders for everything from shoes to gloves, petticoats to handbags. On the Queen’s dressing table you’ll find beauty products she’s been loyal to since she was a girl – Cyclax face creams, pink Elizabeth Arden lipsticks, Floris scents, Bronnley soap and Yardley talcum powder.

But there are more contemporary brands too. She’s given Clarins a warrant and was seen browsing their counter for an hour in the duty free shop at Singapore’s Changi airport on a stopover from Australia in 2002. Some royal appointments aren’t as highfalutin’ as you’d expect.

Like many of us, the Queen buys her mobile phones from Carphone Warehouse. There is a pest controller by Royal Appointment (Shield), a supplier of baked beans (Heinz), and when the Queen relaxes with an afternoon cuppa it’s courtesy of two more warrant holders – Twinings tea served in Paragon Fine Bone China.

For something stronger, Gordon’s gin, Laphroaig whisky and Bacardi are just a few of the drinks with the Royal seal of approval. But not every supplier boasts of their connection. Two years ago, the Royal Warrants were dropped from the packaging of After Eights and Jacob’s Cream Crackers. Nestlé, which owns the After Eight brand, said the decision arose from a desire to standardise its packaging around the world.

Warrants are awarded on the advice of the Lord Chamberlain – the senior official of the Royal household – and entitle the holder to display the ‘By Appointment’ coats of arms over their business premises as well as on products, stationery and delivery vans. 

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Confessions of Her Majesty’s bra fitter: Measuring a half-dressed Queen (in front of her corgis), selling Diana her last swimsuit and being summoned to Number 10 by Cherie

By JUNE KENTON 

The first time I went to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen, I was utterly terrified. 

Without ever having been introduced, I’d been told to be outside Her Majesty’s bedroom at precisely one minute to nine in the morning, ready to perform the most intimate of services.

By reputation, I’m the UK’s leading boobologist, you see. Or to put it more formally, in July 1982, I became the official corsetiere to the Queen.

'The first time I went to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen, I was utterly terrified,' writes June Kenton

'The first time I went to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen, I was utterly terrified,' writes June Kenton

That meant using the Palace’s tradesman’s entrance, from which you walk for ten to 15 minutes through a vast and shabby basement. 

You go past the kitchens and workrooms, through the floristry area and finally, after what seems like miles of corridors, into the lift that goes to the Queen’s private apartments.

I’d imagined her visitors’ room would be full of gilt frames and gorgeous furniture. Instead there was a jumble of mismatched bits and pieces.

It looked like an old-fashioned dentist’s waiting room. At 9am precisely, Miss Margaret McDonald — the Queen’s dresser and former nanny — ushered me into the royal bedroom.

At the same moment, a piper started playing outside — a tradition that began with Queen Victoria — and the sky darkened.

Suddenly there was an enormous thunderclap. Her Majesty calmly flicked on the main light switch, looked out of her window and said she hoped it wouldn’t rain as she had 8,000 people coming for tea.

The lingerie company started by a refugee that rose to royal heights  

June Kenton, pictured at the opening of the Rigby & Peller branch in Westfield shopping centre, Shepherd's Bush

June Kenton, pictured at the opening of the Rigby & Peller branch in Westfield shopping centre, Shepherd's Bush

Rigby & Peller was founded in 1939 on South Molton Street in London's West End.

Its founders were corsetieres Gita Peller and Bertha Rigby.

Gita was a Jewish refugee who had fled Hungary and Bertha was the one to take her in after she arrived in Britain.

By 1960, Rigby & Peller had started supplying bras to the Queen.

In 1982, June Kenton and her husband Harold bought the business for £20,000.

The couple cut their teeth trading from an open-fronted shop in Brixton, which they bought when they were newlyweds. They sold women's dressing gowns for 19s 11d (99p).

The Kentons manged Rigby & Peller with the assistance of their children, Jill Kenton and David Kenton. 

Mrs Kenton's first fitting for the Queen was at Buckingham Palace that same year.

Just as with fittings for previous clients, she measured the monarch by eye.

In 1994, Mrs Kenton met Princess Diana at a sports clinic in Chiswick, west London, striking up a professional relationship.  

In 2007, Mrs Kenton was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy.

She opted for immediate reconstruction using her own tissue. 

In 2011 the Kentons retired, selling their stake for £8million to Belgian company Van de Velde.

The supplier now has seven shops - including its website - and its flagship store is in Knightsbridge, West London. 

The cost of a brassiere from Rigby & Peller's ranges in price from £50 to £200 and they retail sizes up to a J-Cup

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'Her Majesty calmly flicked on the main light switch, looked out of her window and said she hoped it wouldn’t rain,' before her first fitting

'Her Majesty calmly flicked on the main light switch, looked out of her window and said she hoped it wouldn’t rain,' before her first fitting

Eight thousand! All I could think was that if I were her, I’d be busy cutting sandwiches rather than bothering with a bra fitting. However, even the grandest ladies in the land need to be well-supported.

Her Majesty’s thoughts were obviously elsewhere as she ordered the dogs be brought in from outside and only then did we settle down to the business in hand.

Pipe Major MacRae’s bagpipes were still droning on when I finally retraced my steps to the tradesman’s entrance. I was in a dream.

Who could have predicted that I, June Kenton, a little Jewish lady who used to sell clothes on a market stall, would one day be fitting the monarch for a made-to-measure Rigby & Peller bra? 

Or that I’d get to know the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret — and even become good friends with Princess Diana?

My long journey to Buckingham Palace began when I left school at 16 to train to be a corset fitter.

After getting engaged to Harold Kenton, a lovely man who worked as a sales rep, I started selling clothes in Brixton Market — and doing a roaring trade in candlewick dressing-gowns at 19s 11d (99p).

Another market stall followed, then we opened a shop in Croydon, South London, where we specialised in lingerie and swimwear, offering women proper fittings.

Contour, as we called it, did so well that Harold and I started renting a small, shabby store at the back of Harrods.

Then, in 1982, we had a phone call that changed everything. Tessa Seidon, who owned the last made-to-measure corsetry company in Britain, wanted to know if we were interested in taking it over.

Supplier to the stars  

Rigby & Peller's household status was achieved by supplying lingerie not just for every day use, but for comedy performances and music videos too.

Here are some of their most famous clients:

Lady Gaga

Kim Kardashian 

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett

Benny Hill

Dick Emery 

Gwyneth Paltrow

Scarlett Johansson 

Dawn French 

Joan Collins

Margaret Thatcher 

Queen Elizabeth II

Princess Diana  

Queen Mother 

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon  

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Rigby & Peller had been going since the Thirties, but it was struggling. The only selling point, in fact, was that the business had a Royal Warrant and had been providing corsetry to the Queen for 22 years.

Was it worth the £20,000 we paid? Harold was dubious. But I was thrilled to discover drawers full of ancient lace and beribboned corsetry. (Several items went to the V & A Museum.)

We inherited four seamstresses, who made all the bespoke underwear for some generously endowed country ladies — many of them Ladies with a capital L — and for the aristocratic creme de la creme.

Harold was worried that a few of our brilliant fitters didn’t speak well enough for our more upmarket clients. So he found a wonderful woman to come into the shop one evening a week to teach the girls how to speak the Queen’s English.

Far from being upset, everyone thought the elocution classes were fun. More important, the lessons gave the women a new level of confidence. For Royalty, I always did the fittings. One of our most loyal customers was Princess Margaret, who never wore lingerie or swimwear that wasn’t Rigby & Peller.

She often travelled to her Caribbean island home on Mustique, and was particularly fond of the boned Lollobrigida look (made famous by the Italian star Gina Lollobrigida) when it came to swimsuits.

I thought them old-fashioned and on one visit to Kensington Palace, I dared to bring along several lovely, Lycra swimsuits and cover-ups.

Princess Margaret wasn’t impressed. ‘I could not wear those,’ she sneered. ‘They’re synthetic.’

June's other customers included Margaret Thatcher (pictured), Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett and Benny Hill

June's other customers included Margaret Thatcher (pictured), Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett and Benny Hill

She only wore swimsuits in her preferred style and fabric, she said — none of that modern rubbish. I decided not to mention everything we made for her contained nylon.

The Princess, I must admit, was very aware of her status. So was the actress Joan Collins, though she always made me smile.

She’d stand by the door as if to say ‘I’m here!’ — and God help anyone who didn’t recognise her!

Another regular customer was the Queen Mother, who granted me a Royal Warrant in 1993. She was great fun. Once, commenting on an outfit she’d worn recently, I told her: ‘You look wonderful in lilac, Ma’am.’

She replied: ‘It was rather nice, wasn’t it? But I prefer myself in blue. When I’m in blue, and waving in the back of a car, people can see me so much better.’

One day, I was with the Queen when her hat-maker arrived and it was announced that Princess Margaret was on her way. 

The Queen Mother laughed and told me the Princess liked to interfere.

‘Shall I tell you what I do?’ she said, with a twinkle in her eye. ‘I pretend to listen to Margaret and then, once she has gone, I order what I want.’

I didn’t meet Princess Diana until 1994, when I was 59 and trying to get fit for a charity trek. It turned out we both went to a medical and sports rehabilitation clinic in Chiswick, West London, every Friday.

After several months of banter while we exercised, the Princess invited Harold and me to lunch at Kensington Palace, and we soon became friends.

Whenever we went to see her, she’d run down the stairs to meet us — and then we’d find bunches of flowers for us on our chairs.

This was when Diana was at odds with the Royal Family, and I think she liked people around her who weren’t part of her rarefied world.

I never met William or Harry — though she was always talking about them. I gave her posters of models in lingerie and swimwear for them to put up in their studies at Eton.

On the phone, and she’d ask me to tell her in detail what I’d been doing — even if it was putting in some bedding plants. When she needed new lingerie, she’d ring up and say: ‘I’m coming to headquarters — will you be there?’

Diana had an amazing figure. She ordered a few swimsuits by Gottex, the Israeli designer, and some cover-ups and beach bags to match. I recognised the swimsuits in photos of her on that last fateful yachting trip with Dodi Fayed.

Diana 'had an amazing figure', recalls June Kenton, who remembers the princess telling her she was coming to 'headquarters' when she was in need of a fitting
June Kenton says Diana favoured Israeli designed swimsuits

Diana 'had an amazing figure', recalls June Kenton, who remembers the princess telling her she was coming to 'headquarters' when she was in need of a fitting

When she died, I was heart- broken, but I cherish my memories of her. She was a genuinely warm person and never thought twice about coming to the shop.

Cherie Blair, on the other hand, insisted I attend to her at No 10. The only time Cherie came to us was the day before she and her husband Tony went to Buckingham Palace when he stepped down as PM. The police searched the shop before we did her fitting.

Comedian Jo Brand came in with ‘style gurus’ Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine to film an episode of their TV series, What Not To Wear. Jo definitely needed help, but wasn’t convinced she’d find a bra that fitted her, let alone one that was comfortable.

A short spell in the fitting room changed her mind — and she came back to buy £2,000-worth of gift vouchers for family and friends.

Other customers included Mrs Thatcher, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett and Benny Hill. We didn’t get Benny and the two Ronnies into the fitting room — but we did provide them with specially made monster bras for their TV shows.

Mind you, plenty of men did want a personal service. Our solution was to open up to transvestites after hours, when they could have the shop to themselves.

Another male fan was fashion stylist Gok Wan, with whom I worked on the first series of How To Look Good Naked.

On screen, he would refer to me as ‘The Grande Dame of Underwear’ or the ‘Queen of Undies’, but to my face he called me his ‘second mum’ — a great honour because he adores his real mum.

Like me, he’s dead against liposuction and cosmetic surgery, and, after years of experience in the fitting room, I can tell you why breast enhancement is a bad idea.

Silicone implants are often solid and they don’t sit naturally in a bra — plus there are so many health risks if things go wrong.

Breast reduction, on the other hand, is a different story, because over-large breasts can cause back and shoulder problems.

I also felt passionately about encouraging women to examine their breasts regularly.

I once had a million swing tags printed with ‘Be breast aware’ on one side and instructions on what to look for on the other.

To launch our campaign, I asked the daughter of one customer if she’d model a range of bras with our ‘breast awareness’ tag. Sophie Dahl, an unknown 19-year-old with a 38DD bust, did it for free — and afterwards became a top model.

Just ten years later, in 2007, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. You won’t be surprised to hear that I opted for immediate reconstruction, using my own tissue.

When I turned 75 and Harold was 80, we decided it was probably time to retire. So, in 2011, we sold most of our shares in Rigby & Peller to Van de Velde, a brilliant Belgian lingerie company, for £8 million. I still feel faint about that price-tag.

Sadly, it became clear a year later that Harold was suffering from dementia. I ache for one lucid moment with the man I adore, but I’m so grateful we can afford round-the-clock care at home.

And my relationship with the Queen? Well, there was a rocky moment when ITV did a documentary about Rigby & Peller.

The programme maker interviewed Sue Margolis, the seamstress who makes all the Queen’s lingerie, and asked her what she thought of the Royal Family.

Her reply? ‘They should have their heads chopped off because they’re a waste of money.’

If Her Majesty heard about this, it hasn’t affected our dealings. Sue Margolis still makes her lingerie. And to this day, at the age of 80, I still do all the Queen’s fittings.

Adapted from Storm In A D Cup by June Kenton (Briar House, £19.99). © June Kenton 2017. To order a copy for £13.99 (offer valid to March 18), visit mailbookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640. P&P is free on orders over £15.

 

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