London’s tourist shops abuzz in preparation for royal wedding

Throughout the city of London the faces of the happy royal couple smile out at passersby. The image of William, prince of Wales, and his bride-to-be, Kate Middleton, are inescapable.

They are on memorabilia in shop windows, photographs on magazine covers, even on posters and flags at the post office.

Shopkeepers say they have been stocked up for the wedding — which is April 29 at Westminster Abbey — since early March, and the commemorative souvenirs have been selling like hotcakes.

At Cool Britannia, a two-level gift shop at Piccadilly Circus, workers manned the aisle set aside for the prince and his fiancé fully stocked with thimbles, teaspoons, magnets, postcards, coasters, shot glasses, mugs, posters, flags and more.

Television commercials feature replicas of the royal engagement ring and commemorative coins.

“Now you can celebrate the marriage of our future king and queen with the exclusive full-color royal wedding ring,” one commercial
advertised.

Special attention is brought to the fact that today Kate Middleton  wears the late Princess Diana’s engagement ring.
 
The people’s love for Diana is still strong.
 
There are hardly any items with Prince Charles alone, and Diana is a star of the gift shop. When the two couples are pictured together, the emphasis is on “William and his late mother.”  

In commemorative photo books such as those published in Us Weekly, the baby prince is pictured with his mother, not his father.

Wedding gifts are selling well and are found throughout London, but the market seems to be dominated by tourist sales.

There is just something appealing to Americans and other tourists about a royal wedding.

So much so that when Britain gets ready for a royal event, we produce such a demand for royal junk that we create a substantial market in London’s tourist areas.

There’s also some tongue-in-cheek British humor with the commercial cashbox of the upcoming nuptials.

On the shelf next to the gaudy gifts for the wedding next month at Cool Britannia, you can buy posters styled after the famous U.K. poster from the World War II that reads “KEEP CALM IT’S ONLY A WEDDING.”

­— cscudder@indiana.edu