Prestat Ltd is one of London's oldest chocolate shops. It has been awarded three

Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

s: from Her Late Majesty The Queen, Her Late Majesty

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

and

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

History

Prestat Ltd was established in 1902 by French émigré Antoine Dufour. The Dufour family created the

chocolate truffle A chocolate truffle is a French chocolate confectionery traditionally made with a chocolate ganache center and coated in cocoa powder, coconut, or chopped nuts. A chocolate truffle is handrolled into a spherical or ball shape. The name der ...

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

in France in December 1895 but it only became widely available when the new creation was brought to England by Antoine Dufour with the opening of the first Prestat shop in South Molton Street in central London. Antoine Dufour, for reasons uncertain, named his business Prestat after Pierre Prestat who was his wife's first cousin and some of the earlier packaging has the company's name as P. Prestat. Antoine Dufour opened a further two shops, one at 405 Oxford Street and a second at 28 St Swithin's Lane in the City of London financial district. Antoine Dufour passed the business on to his son Tony Dufour who ran Prestat through to the late 1950s. The difficulties of trading during the Second World War led to the closure of the Oxford Street and St Swithin's Lane stores and Tony Dufour eventually sold the business to brothers Neville and Maxwell Croft. The company received royal warrants as purveyors of chocolates to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1975 and to

in 1999. Nominated as one of the world's top three chocolate shops by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' in 2003 Prestat's current flagship store is at 14 Princes Arcade,

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

, and in March 2009 Prestat opened within the Chocolate Hall of

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

. Its current range of packaging is the work of designer and artist Kitty Arden, who in 2000 collaborated with

Lulu Guinness Lucinda "Lulu" Jane Guinness (née Rivett-Carnac; born 29 May 1960) is a British accessories fashion designer. Biography She was born in May 1960, the daughter of Sir Miles Rivett-Carnac, 9th Baronet, descended from a chairman of the East Ind ...

, the handbag designer, to create a limited edition handbag in the design of the Prestat shop. The company products are now sold in leading stores (including Harrods,

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

, Liberty & Co. and

John Lewis Partnership John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company that operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose supermarkets, financial services and a build to rent operation. The public limited company is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

) and fine food shops throughout the UK. Prestat exports its chocolates to countries including Japan, Australia,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. The company has been owned by the Italian firm Domori part of the Illy Group since 15 March 2019.

Notable customers

Prestat has had a long history of celebrity customers from the actress

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

in the 1910s through to Sir

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

and Dame

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily "Peggy" Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was determined from an early age to become ...

in the 1950s,

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

in the 1990s and

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

Adrian Lester Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey on 14 August 1968) is a British actor. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the London stage, an ...

, and

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

today.

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

, author of ''Charlie'' and ''The Chocolate Factory'', made Prestat truffles central to his racy novel ''

My Uncle Oswald ''My Uncle Oswald'' is a 1979 novel in the sex comedy genre written by Roald Dahl. The novel stars Uncle Oswald, a character who previously appeared in " The Visitor" and " Bitch", two short stories also written by Roald Dahl (and which can bo ...

''. In this novel, a scheming temptress seduces numerous geniuses and royalty of the 20th century with a love-potion inserted into Prestat truffles.

References

External links

* {{coord, 51.5082, -0.1374, display=title 1902 establishments in the United Kingdom British brands British royal warrant holders British chocolate companies Piccadilly Retail companies established in 1902 British companies established in 1902 1902 establishments in England