Scarlet cloth made by family company Hainsworth has been on the frontline for two centuries – and this Diamond Jubilee year it will be on global display.

The Queen’s Guards will be wearing Scarlet Doeskin made in the mill, near Pudsey, at Jubilee celebrations in June.

The company has been supplying cloth to the UK armed forces since the Duke of Wellington’s ‘thin red line’ faced Napoleon’s mighty army in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Today, Hainsworth’s iconic scarlet cloth is the Military’s ceremonial dress. Prince William wore the scarlet on his wedding day, and Prince Charles wore it when he married Diana in 1981.

And Hainsworth cloth will be adorning both the Queen’s guards and the Royal family during this summer’s celebration of the monarch’s Diamond Jubilee.

An audience of billions will watch as the guards line The Mall and parade around Buckingham Palace, wearing scarlet tunics made to strict standards set by the Ministry of Defence.

The standards also apply to the military tunics to be worn by members of the Royal family when they appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony to wave at Jubilee crowds.

Hainsworth has been in operation for more than 225 years and has been a family business for seven generations.

“Hainsworth on parade” is what managing director Tom Hainsworth’s children call the Queen’s Guards in their scarlet tunics lining the Mall.

Red was the standard uniform colour for the British infantry colour up to the 19th century – it was said to enhance morale and patriotic pride, and distinguish friend from foe – and the Crimean War was the last time it was worn in conflict. By 1914, the highly visible uniforms were replaced with camouflage khaki, as the British marched into the First World War.

But in ceremonial terms, the scarlet uniform has remained.

“It is the pride of the UK,” said Mr Hainsworth. “At last year’s Royal Wedding, three billion people around the world saw Hainsworth cloth on parade. There’s a pride, passion and dedication in our product, and a rich history that inspires it. Every other nation aspires to have that.”

Hainsworth has the Royal Warrant for supplying the Queen with interior fabrics, for Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and its cloth covers the Woolsack – the centuries-old Lord Speaker’s seat in the House of Lords.

“In Tudor England, wool was an important commodity that signified power and influence – so much so that Queen Elizabeth I insisted nobility took their oaths of loyalty kneeling on a woollen sack,” said Mr Hainsworth. “The Woolsack remains at the heart of Britain’s democracy.”

Today Hainsworth is a luxury fabric supplier to royalty worldwide, from Denmark to Malaysia, and its fabric is used by fashion designers including Paul Smith.

The company has created a commemorative throw for the Jubilee, part of a new luxury lifestyle brand, Scarlet & Argent, comprising woollen blankets, throws and home accessories.

The range, available from scarletandarent.co.uk, include the Lupton Blanket – a nod to Hainsworth’s purchase of William Lupton & Co. Ltd from the great-grandparents of the Duchess of Cambridge in 1958. The Yorkshire company belonged to Kate’s great-grandmother Olive Lupton, and the Lupton family crest is the inspiration for the Scarlet & Argent blanket.

The wool is from Australian and New Zealand sheep, producing a fine, soft fibre for blankets and throws. Each piece is created in Hainsworth’s specialist mill, from the selection of raw wool to the hand-finished touches.

“The whole process – from delivering the wool, blending it, spinning the yarn, weaving, dyeing and all other finishing processes – is all done here,” said Mr Hainsworth.

“Woollen textiles are very much a Yorkshire root. The Dale and Moor throws are a tribute to a traditional wool drying process in which cloth was stretched over wooden tenter frames and pinned in place with hooks. This is where the saying ‘on tenterhooks’ comes from. In reference to this, we have left tenterhooks in the side of the fabric.”

He added: “The collection plays on a British theme. Britain’s trading history is very much based on textiles, and blankets played a big part in that. They were transported around the world.”