From replicas to razors, Jack Wanstall on the scope and appeal of the Royal Armouries licensing programme

Jack, thanks for making time. Firstly, can you tell us more about the history of Royal Armouries, your collections and the sites you have under your control?
The Royal Armouries can trace its roots back over 700 years to medieval London! For centuries the armour and arms housed in the Tower of London were at the epicentre of the nation’s military might: the power behind the throne. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, selected items began to be arranged for display to Tower visitors, in one of the first deliberately created visitor attractions in the country. Later, in the early 19th century, our nature and purpose began to change radically. Old displays were gradually altered, from exhibitions of curiosities to historically ‘accurate’ and logically organised displays, to improve the visitor experience.

Fast forward to today, and we are a national museum caring for the United Kingdom’s collection of arms and armour – over 75,000 objects which form one of the most important institutions of its type anywhere in the world. These are displayed across three sites: the Royal Armouries’ historic home in the White Tower at the Tower of London, at Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds and at Fort Nelson, one of the last fortresses ever built in the UK, situated near Portsmouth.

The collection contains artefacts ranging from weapons dated to the European Bronze Age to contemporary firearms and includes royal armours belonging to King Henry VIII and other kings of England, as well as other stunning pieces from across the world that have proudly adorned the great palaces, arsenals, tournament fields and parade grounds of history.

While we hold many historical objects, we are also a Museum which is very much working in the now and the future. We are adding to our collection all the time, often through international loans and partnerships – for example, we’ve loaned our famous horned helmet to the Louvre in Paris recently, and we’ve also hosted a display of decorated Ukrainian armour plates from the current war in Ukraine. We are increasingly involved in wider work around the impact of weapons and war on communities, and with partners such as Border Force to help mitigate the effect of 3D weapons. We want our collection to be able to inspire a better future through the work we do.

What do you think makes the Royal Armouries unique?
I think the history of the organisation is special, and specifically the ways it has displayed its collection over the years. From its 14th century origins in the world’s most famous castle at the Tower of London, to its decision in the 1990s to relocate the majority of the collection outside of London to a purpose-built museum in Leeds – a pioneering move at the time. The museum has been on a fascinating journey and the collections relevance is as absolute now as at any time in its long history.

Every nation and every community has been shaped to a greater or lesser extent by force of arms, and every right or freedom has at some point been won, lost or regained through conflict. Because of this, arms and armour have been pivotal in shaping our past and will continue to shape our future. Through our collection objects are the stories of the people who created them, used them, or were impacted by them – important narratives that we hope can help us all understand our past and move towards the future with greater understanding.

You get 2 million visitors a year across your sites. Can you tell us more about the make up of your audience?
We have many different audiences who engage with the Royal Armouries, both in person and online. As one of the most well-known buildings in London, the majority of visitors to the White Tower at the Tower of London are unsurprisingly international tourists. At the Royal Armouries Museum Leeds and at Fort Nelson, we have a wide range of visitors from both local and regional areas, but also from the rest of the UK and international visitors.

The education programme across Fort Nelson and Leeds sites brings topics like the impact of the Romans and the Home Front in WW2 to life for many thousands of school children and students each year. We run regular events in the school holidays – we have a Roman Festival coming up in August as part of our Gladiators season in Leeds, and Fort Nelson has just booked out again with its Medieval Mayhem half term programme.

“We love collaborating, influencing and inspiring partners to bring our collection to life and engage customers in extraordinary ways.”

We also run exhibitions at Fort Nelson and Leeds, and we’re just about to open our new special exhibitions gallery, with Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum coming to Leeds from Rome and Pompeii in an international exhibition which brings to life the lives of these ancient warriors. Finally, we run a free in person and online lecture programme and conferences, aimed at sharing research and understanding with the academic community and the wider public. These programmes are marketed to the relevant audiences across multi-channel marketing and comms, but also through relationships and many people come to us due to word-of-mouth recommendation.

Our digital channels have been growing exponentially. We have engagement worldwide with much of our content, including our YouTube series, What Is this Weapon, which has resulted in around 400k YouTube subscribers, and our TikTok channel, launched last year and with over 3.5m likes and 10m views to date. We’re finding digital is a key way of engaging a wider audience, some of whom come to visit, but also some who can’t visit but are learning about the collection and the work we do.

One area of commercial activity you are involved in is entertainment. Can you tell us how you work in this sector and share a couple of recent examples of recent partnerships?
We offer a range of specialist services to the Entertainment industries, helping Gaming, TV & Film, Publishing and Consumer Brands to ground their creative visions in historical reality. From filming at our locations, to our curators providing expert insight, to facilitating hands-on experiences with our collection, we bridge the gap between museum and entertainment, offering creators, makers and designers with unique opportunities.

As an example, we recently partnered with the video games review channel IGN to create some informative and fun YouTube content around a new, historically-set video game. We provided period correct weapons and armour, as well as insight into the accuracy of the game in depicting medieval arms, armour and combat.

In a different project for the BBC, our curators helped explore art vs reality in the stories of Sherlock Holmes for a three-part series with Lucy Worsley. Making use of our research and consultancy service, the Royal Armouries Museum as a unique filming location and an on-screen contribution from our firearms curator, we were able to provide a complete solution to an interesting and complex brief. These partnerships are mutually beneficial- we provide support and expertise, our partners create great content and we all engage audiences.

You have recently worked with the Royal Mail on a special issue of stamps featuring your collection. Can you tell us more about this collection, the stamps developed and how you managed the design process?
We were delighted to work with Royal Mail on a special stamp issue and have the opportunity to highlight some of the stand-out artefacts from the collection. The quality of the finished products is stunning and we have seen an overwhelmingly positive reception to the stamps across the press, media and social media.

In all 12 stamps were created for the special issue. Eight stamps show stunning examples of armour from the Tudor and Stuart period that was owned by monarchs, including King Henry VIII, King Charles I and King Charles II. A further four stamps show images of other treasures from the Royal Armouries collection originating from the UK, Europe and Asia.

As for the design process with Royal Mail, our collective vision was to create a visually striking and historically rich stamp collection that would engage stamp collectors, history enthusiasts and the general public alike. Hand in hand with our expert curatorial staff – who provided invaluable insight and guidance throughout the process – we chose to focus the main ‘mint’ collection of eight stamps on armour owned by Henry VIII and other British Kings who are recognisable historical figures. Moreover, these objects were manufactured for royalty so are of the finest craftmanship and decoration, detail which is eye-catching and translates perfectly to the canvas of a postage stamp.

With the remaining four stamps we felt there was an opportunity to focus on other aspects of the collection so purposefully chose to showcase different types of objects, from different geographies and eras such as a sword and scabbard from the Ming dynasty, c.1420 and a European sword with Arabic inscription, c.1365–1432.

Can you tell us about some of your other licensing partners?
We are active with licensed partners in a number of categories and champion design, craft and creativity. We love collaborating, influencing and inspiring partners to bring our collection to life and engage customers in extraordinary ways. Currently we have licensed products that range from replicas, to sporting goods, luxury items, crafting and gifting.

In the luxury sector we have a partnership with Wilde & Harte, who produce British-made shaving razors of the finest quality. Together we have created a beautifully designed product range, inspired by the grand armours of English kings, that celebrates exquisite craftsmanship and delivers an element of splendour.

With our partner, Windlass Steelcrafts, we implemented a detailed study process in order to manufacture the most accurate replicas of weapons from the Royal Armouries that have ever been created. This involved comparing prototypes side-by-side with their historic originals, all under the supervision of our curators, to ensure details matched exactly. The resulting range of nine display replicas are now sold worldwide.

With such a vast and rich collection, it must be a challenge to identify assets to use in licensing. Do you have a specific process for choosing assets for licensing? Do you have style guides and mood boards?
It is a nice challenge, if I can put it that way. The Royal Armouries brand licensing programme highlights our commitment to inspire design and innovation everywhere. We work with licensees operating across Europe, USA and Asia on a range of product categories, each inspired by the museum’s rich archive and core values.

We believe strong relationships build great collaborations, and our approach is to offer a personalised service where we treat each project and client as bespoke. We emphasise taking time in an initial discovery phase to really understand the core aims of a project so that later in the process we can select assets that are the right fit.

Depending on the project, we will utilise materials such as mood boards or style guides as well as other tools such as conducting bespoke research or new asset creation to support a design process and help deliver creative visions.

Are there specific product categories that you are hoping to move the Royal Armouries licensing programme into?
Certainly – the scope and appeal of the brand is far reaching, so there are always new categories and opportunities that we are excited to explore with partners. We actually have a couple of new licensees, in new categories, coming to market this year which we are looking forward to see debut.

One of which is Onoto, the manufacturer of handcrafted, limited edition, luxury British fountain pens. We have designed a stunning product with the team at Onoto, based on some of our royal Tudor armours. We are excited to make available to customers later in 2025. There are a couple of other products in the works as well which we will be sharing news about in the coming months. We are always interested in having conversations with potential partners.

Finally, do you have a favourite artefact in the Royal Armouries collection?
For me that’s similar to asking if I have a favourite child! There are so many incredible artefacts in the collection, for all different kinds of reasons, that it’s impossible to have a favourite. One that never fails to amaze me is a Japanese armour that was presented to King James I by Tokugawa Hidetada in 1613. It’s thought to be the first diplomatic gift between Japan and England, and one of, if not the first, Asian armour on display in the Tower of London. It causes my imagination to run wild every time I see it, thinking about its remarkable journey across the world and the hands it’s passed through.

Another is the Duke of Wellington’s telescope from the Battle of Waterloo. Through that lens Wellington witnessed Napoleon’s last throw of the dice as a commander – which is pretty incredible isn’t it?

Absolutely. Brilliant – thanks again Jack.