Rupert Lowe has royal warrant despite refusing to say King is a white Briton
Rupert Lowe has royal warrant despite refusing to say King is a white Briton
Daisy Graham-BrownFri, August 7, 2026 at 6:54 PM UTC
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Rupert Lowe, whose company was recognised for rewiring royal buildings, is embroiled in a row over the monarch’s ethnicity - Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty
Rupert Lowe’s family company holds a royal warrant, despite the leader of Restore Britain refusing to say that the King is a white Briton.
The Great Yarmouth MP is a director of Lowe & Oliver, an electrical contractor, which the King appointed as a royal warrant holder earlier this year.
But asked about the monarch’s ethnicity on Thursday, Mr Lowe repeatedly declined to confirm whether he believes the King can be classified as white British.
Lowe & Oliver states on its website that holding a royal warrant is “coveted”, adding that the company “is extremely proud to be entitled to display the words, ‘By Appointment to His Majesty the King’. What better recommendation could there be?”
The royal warrant website shows the entry for Lowe & Oliver
Despite this endorsement, Mr Lowe this week said there were “different interpretations” of whether the King is a white Briton – prompting one royal commentator to say that the Restore leader’s company should have its royal warrant removed.
Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal expert, said: “Holding a royal warrant is a huge privilege; it gives a firm a certain responsibility and cachet which they can display and be proud of.
“It’s therefore disgraceful for someone to make comments about the King that are quite so ridiculous. I think the company’s warrant should definitely be removed if the King is being insulted in that way, and the palace may look to do that.”
Royal warrants are granted as a mark of recognition to companies which have regularly supplied goods or services to the Royal household.
Lowe & Oliver was first awarded a royal warrant by Elizabeth II in 1995 and was appointed a holder again by the King in 2025, owing to what it described as the “exceptional service and craftsmanship the company has provided to the Royal household”.
Lowe & Oliver posted a picture of the royal warrant arms on LinkedIn in 2025
The company was co-founded by Mr Lowe’s grandfather and has since rewired buildings including Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Mr Lowe is the majority shareholder in its parent company, Lowe Holdings.
There are no specific rules that prevent a warrant holder from criticising or embarrassing the Royal family. However, the royal household can cancel a warrant at any time.
Rigby & Peller, the late Queen’s lingerie supplier, had its warrant withdrawn in 2018 after the company’s former majority owner shared details about her fittings in a book.
Mr Lowe came under scrutiny this week when he was asked about a report which, it was claimed, defined white Britons as those whose parents were both born in the UK.
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The report was by Matt Goodwin, a senior research fellow at the University of Buckingham and Reform’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme on Thursday, presenter Nick Robinson pointed out to Mr Lowe that Prince Philip, the King’s father, was born on the Greek island of Corfu.
He asked: “Are you aware that, by the definitions used in that particular report, King Charles is not a white Briton? Do you think he is a white Briton?”
Mr Lowe responded: “Well, many people have different interpretations of that, Nick. I mean, we can split hairs.”
Asked a second time whether the monarch was a white Briton, he said: “The experience of what we’re talking about is quite clear, and I think most British people, if you speak to them, would agree.
“And that is why Restore Britain’s membership is growing very fast and your listeners are dropping equally fast, because you don’t reflect actually what’s happening. You try and whitewash all the things that are happening.”
Told that he was ignoring the question, Mr Lowe responded: “I’m not ignoring the question. It is a fact that, by 2063, white British people will be a minority on current trends. I don’t think anyone disputes that.”
On Thursday, The Telegraph revealed that Charlie Downes, the Reform UK spokesman, had been accused of suggesting Nigel Farage was “bought” by Jewish supporters.
Mr Downes responded to a post on X by the Reform leader, in which Mr Farage had said he could not be bought, with an image showing him in front of signs for the Reform Jewish Alliance.
Campaigners against anti-Semitism said Mr Downes, who has been part of Restore alongside Mr Lowe since it was launched, had perpetuated the “oldest smear” about Jewish people with the post.
Mr Downes also called Allister Heath, the editor of The Sunday Telegraph, a “traitor” for accusing the party of racism.
Asked to comment on Mr Lowe’s royal warrant in light of these comments, a Restore spokesman said: “The disgraceful Daily Telegraph onslaught against Rupert Lowe continues, even dragging his family business into it which has just celebrated 100 years in the electrical and mechanical contracting/maintenance industry.
“A remarkable achievement which demonstrates the quality of the company. Exactly the type of small business this country, and this paper, should be supporting.
“The Daily Telegraph is now embarrassing itself.”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
