Manufacturers and retailers are putting in the overtime to rush through a vast range of commemorative goods and souvenirs of the Royal engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton. Of course, they have also got a head start on producing souvenirs of the wedding, which will be on 29th April, 2011, and which are sure to be a boom business and are being made ready, some just waiting for the pictures of the happy couple to be added after the ceremony. The royal engagements souvenirs and those for the actual wedding are set to be the most popular since those for the wedding of William’s parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
Royal engagement souvenirs are likely to make many forms and hit all sectors of the market as manufacturers from the Royal Mint to Asda are producing commemorative goods for the engagement and wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. There is also some discrepancy in whether the souvenirs use her formal name, Catherine, or the name she is most known by, Kate.
The Royal Wedding mug above and the version with a Union Jack below, can be bought online. The store has a wide range of mugs, steins, keychains, magnets, postcards and more, all priced very reasonably. They ship anywhere in the world too!
The Royal Mint is waiting until the wedding to release a £5 commemorative coin and the Royal Mail are also expected to issue commemorative stamps around the time of the ceremony in April 2011. There will also be a limited edition range for stamp collectors.
However, the shelves are already lined with Royal Engagement memorabilia, with Asda being the first to put out a commemorative mug which has pictures of the couple’s faces framed within a heart and the date of their engagement also on there. A little more up-market and expensive, the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton has given a much needed cash injection to Britain’s china and pottery industry which has not been doing well in recent years. Aynsley China, a company based in Stoke-on-Trent, is issuing a range of fine bone china pieces to commemorate the Royal engagement.
Royal Crown Derby have created a range of decorative items to celebrate the Royal Wedding, ranging from plates and heart shaped trays to a hand painted peacock, a loving cup and even two commemorative china bears, which are exclusive to those who collect them in person from the visitor centre. Also available at Crown Derby retail outlets is a range of commemorative paperweights, include designs such as a couple of swan, a traditional symbol of everlasting love. In keeping with William’s position as the son of the Prince of Wales, who traditionally is known as William Wales, Royal Crown Derby have also made a Welsh dragon figurine to mark the occasion. Many of the pieces, planned by Royal Crown Derby for a few years now as an engagement looked likely, have monograms on them. Initially these were planned to be W and K but with the announcement that Kate is most likely to be called Princess Catherine (her real name), these have had to be changed to W and C. All Royal Crown Derby pieces are made in the UK, unlike with many cheaper manufacturers.
Royal engagement souvenir paperweights on sale on the Sandringham estate cover both eventualities, of whether William’s fiancée/wife will be known as Kate or Catherine. Versions with both initials are on sale in the gift shop there. It’s predicted by valuation experts that, if Kate/Catherine does definitely decide on one single term of address down the line, the souvenirs with the other initial on them will be valuable, as they mark a certain moment in history where there was some ambiguity.
