DR Harris is the oldest pharmacy in London, and purveyor of fine grooming products for men and women. It is based at 29 St James’s Street, just off Savile Row in central London. Why not visit during Concours on Savile Row, which takes place on Wednesday May 22 and Thursday May 23, 2024?
The story begins just before 1790 at 11 St James’s Street, where Harris’s Apothecary set up shop. Over the next 50 years the family established a reputation selling Lavender Water, Classic Cologne and English Flower perfumes in this fashionable quarter of London. One of the proprietors, Henry Harris, was a surgeon, while Daniel Rotely (DR) was an early pharmaceutical chemist.
For more than two centuries, this family business in the centre of ‘men’s club land’ has served the gentry and the court of St. James’s. In 1938 it was awarded the Royal Warrant as chemist to Her Majesty the Queen, later the Queen Mother – which was held until her death in 2002. In 2002 the firm was also appointed as chemist to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, an honour that was added to in 2012 when the Royal Warrant for Her Majesty the Queen was bestowed upon the company.
DR Harris has now been granted the Royal Warrant as chemist to the King and also to the Queen. It is among the first 145 grantees for the King, and one of just seven grantees for the Queen.
Today DR Harris continues to offer outstanding levels of service at its traditional chemists’ shop at 29 St James’s Street, a premises that includes much of the establishment’s original furniture. DR Harris has evolved with the times, however, and its fine selection of soaps, shaving creams, aftershaves and colognes, skincare products and much more, continues to appeal to all those who appreciate quality and distinction the world over.
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