The focal point of their visit was to see the raft of innovation, design, skills and services showcased at the event by more than 200 Royal Warrant Holders – the largest number of Royal Warrant Holders to have come together in such a way.
The four-day Coronation Festival, hosted from 11 to 14 July by the Royal Warrant Holders Association, was held to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation and aimed to highlight the value in business of holding a Royal Warrant.
Products on show ranged from food and drink to fashion, technology and horticulture with printing and paper no exception.
Piquing the interest of the Royals on the first day of the event was Hobs Reprographics, which used its stand to showcase its pioneering work in augmented reality and 3D printing.
The London-based firm displayed models of Buckingham Palace, a corgi, a crown and a model of TV presenter James May’s head, produced for a TV programme.
Chief executive Kieran O’Brien said: ‘The Duke of Gloucester was very interested in our services, given his background as an architect. He told us he wanted to use 3D printing to help him in building high-end car models, rather than building models of Buckingham Palace."
"We were delighted by the public’s fascination and interest in 3D printing and by the crowds of people who wanted to talk to us about it. We’ve certainly challenged traditional views of printing and communication and are thrilled with the response."
Also exhibiting was Mount Street Printers, which spent six months designing its stand, created with the help of USP Events, as a replica of its central London store.
The firm’s senior graphic designer and co-ordinator for the event Rachel O’Reilly said it was an incredible experience and that sales during the festival beat all expectations.
"It was our first time taking part in an exhibition and it was a big learning curve for us; we were honoured to take part and really enjoyed it," she said. The company designed a commemorative set of Coronation Festival notepads and correspondence cards, which O’Reilly said "went down a bomb". "We completely sold out and we had to print more notepads during the event," she added.
Systematic Print Management used the event to launch its new branding and website with managing director Chris Robey calling it "the perfect opportunity" to unveil its new look.
Luxury stationery printer Barnard & Westwood also took part in the festival and director Andrew Pindar said: "It was a fantastic event for us and it was great to be part of it. We had an Imperial hand press from 1836 on our stand and we were doing personalised foiling onto lovely notepads – they went like hot cakes."
Working hard on its stand, with two binders in constant use, was the team from London-based bookbinder Blissetts. Chief executive Gary Blissett said: "We showed some very fine bindings with photobooks and notebooks. We shifted more than 400 and personalised everyone of them."
Taking centre stage on a raised catwalk (main picture) with a 400-stong audience was paper merchant Talk Paper’s Conqueror fine paper range, which had been transformed into a series of elaborate dresses designed by British designer Joey Bevan.
The dresses were created from Conqueror Golden Haze Pearlescent, which was used to produce paper lace and roses.
Andrew Ingram, divisional director at Antalis, of which Talk Paper is a specialist division, said: "Seeing the Conqueror range turned into unique, bespoke dresses as part of the catwalk show was one of the highlights of a wonderful Coronation Festival."
Royal Warrant Holders Association Secretary Richard Peck said the festival had astounded all involved and opened opportunities for international trade.
"The real benefits of such a successful event will no doubt be seen over the coming months," he said.
