The Royal Figaro

The release of documents under the Public Records Act 1967 has revealed that Nissan applied to Her Majesty the Queen for a Royal Warrant which would have seen the car launched as The Royal Figaro.

Certain documents are only released after a period of time, due to their being particularly confidential or sensitive, or those associated with matters relating to the Sovereign as advised by the Privy Council.

A Royal Warrant sent a strong public signal that the holder supplied goods of a quality acceptable for use in the royal household. Current holders of a royal warrant include Cadbury, Twinings of London,  Bollinger, Fortnum & Mason, Heinz and Axminster Carpets. In the motor industry, Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguar are also holders of the Royal Warrant.

In documents recently released under the 30 year rule, Professor Alexandra Mary has discovered a file called “The Royal Figaro” which referred to proposals from Nissan Motor Co. Ltd to launch their new 2 door coupe simultaneously in Japan and the UK as The Royal Figaro.

The car would have seen the Royal Coat of Arms displayed in 22 places around the car, and the parking stick double as a mast. It is believed that the car’s Fleur De Lys branding came about instead due to the Royal Warrant being declined.

While the formal reply wishes Nissan well in their future plans, the rejection of the application in this matter was noted as “offered to products and services of long-standing merit as opposed to new enterprises” but added that Nissan could reapply again at a future date “on condition of an extensive test drive to hear that turbo whistle.”

We reached out to the Royal Household for further comment and were advised that members can look out for a response on social media by searching #aprilfool