How to smell like a royal
I've been invited by Royal perfumers Penhaligon's, as the King has agreed to collaborate on a second perfume with them inspired by his famous gardens. The new perfume will come out this summer.
'Scent is so important to these gardens,' explains Ring. 'The King doesn't use any fertilisers, so encouraging pollinating insects is key – which is why he chooses plants for their scent as well as looks.'
Right on cue, a fat bumble bee lands on the deliciously scented pale pink Daphne 'Aureomarginata', a winter flowering shrub originally from the Himalayas. It fills my nostrils with its lily of the valley type scent the minute I enter the famous 'stumpery' area of the garden (so called simply because it's built around a collection of upturned tree stumps, currently covered with blankets of velvety green moss, snowdrops, yellow celandines and tiny pink cyclamen). An early butterfly, the first of the year, arrived in the gardens the day previous to my visit.
'We expect a lot from our plants these days,' laughs Grainne Ring in her soft Irish lilt, 'we want them to look good in winter, put on a great show and then die beautifully as well.'
The gardens at Highgrove are very beautiful, as anyone who has been will testify. On this perfect, blue-skied March day, there are swathes of purple crocus, nodding golden daffodils, dusky pink hellebores and the largest snowdrops I've ever seen.
I'm not even caring that my Chanel ballet flats were an unwise shoe choice, and I should probably have taken up the offer to borrow one of the many pairs of ankle wellies I saw on arrival. I'll cherish the royal mud when I'm back in London. And I've noted to self to book tickets to return in the summer with some girlfriends to see the four acres of wildflower meadow, delphiniums and wisteria which flank the left side of the house.
Like a well-executed afternoon tea, there's a lot of choice here for a perfumer.
Penhaligon's is of course a fitting choice of perfumers to collaborate with, having held a Royal Warrant since 1903, when they created Blenheim Bouquet Eau de Parfum for the Duke of Marlborough (Winston Churchill and Trinny Woodall are also fans).
They're 'eau so British' as the King's Road shop windows playfully testify. The Duke of Edinburgh and King Charles both allegedly wore the citrussy, fresh Blenheim Bouquet scent and bought it for a number of years. Blenheim Bouquet soap and hand cream is placed next to the taps in both of the bathrooms I visited.
Importantly, Penhaligon's also adhere with the King's sustainability and eco-friendly philosophy, with all plastic components of the perfume bottle and packaging being 100 per cent recyclable and the printing on the bottles using only organic ink, free of mineral oil.
I'm told that the brief for Highgrove Bouquet, the King's first perfume created with Penhaligon's two years ago, was to recreate the scent of the gardens in the summer. In particular, it set out to capture the moment of opening the windows in Highgrove and inhaling the scent from the blossom of the weeping silver lime trees that line the driveway.
Author and 'aromacology' expert Danièle Ryman (aromatherapy explores physiological responses to scents, which aromacology investigates the links between scents and emotions), was invited by the King to Highgrove for the launch of his book Highgrove: A Garden Celebrated. She tells me that 'lime tree blossom (or linden blossom as it's also called), it's a clever choice because it's soothing as well as elevating. The French drink it in the evening as a calming tisane.'
Highgrove Bouquet Eau de Parfum also has notes of mimosa and a mossy green, powdery base. It's a subtle, softly spoken and elegant fragrance; you have to be close to the person wearing it to detect it.
Most fragrances worn by the Royal Family fit this brief. Jo Malone's Orange Blossom Cologne which the Princess of Wales is said to use, (the matching candles were lit in Westminster Abbey during her wedding) is a light floral with subtle notes of vetiver and lily of the valley and would never be considered a brash room rocker.
Five hundred years ago, another royal Catherine wore a similar orange blossom and citrussy scent commissioned for her marriage to the King of France. Catherine de Medici's Acqua della Regina from Santa Maria Novella is still available to buy today.
Penhaligon's Bluebell, one of Princess Diana's favourite perfumes is another light floral – an almost whimsical take on a bluebell wood using hyacinth and lily of the valley to replicate the smell of a woodland in full bloom of bluebells in early May.
The late Queen was rumoured to wear Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue which also contains orange blossom, but is a more complex perfume which ends with the subtle powderiness of the suede interior of a vintage handbag. As fragrance expert Alice du Parcq says, 'it would match the occasion if a crown or gown were being worn but in an understated way'.
Similarly understated, Princess Anne is said to wear Hermes's classic Caleche Eau de Parfum, which du Parcq describes as 'the ultimate 'never complain; never explain' fragrance'. It's a timeless, old-money scent which, as well as fitting in with the Princess's equestrian link, has an irissy powderiness at its base which lingers on the skin all day like a silk scarf. One spritz in the morning, and you don't need to re-apply again for the rest of the day is perhaps part of its appeal too.
'Perfume is a way of communication,' says Daniele Ryman 'and the thread connecting lots of these is that they are polite and understated yet elevating at the same time, rather like when you meet the royals themselves.'
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