A mug with a portrait of King Charles is displayed in a shop front window.
London:
Commemorative plates, towels and tea bags attract attention in shop windows near Buckingham Palace as they prepare for the first coronation of a British monarch in 70 years.
“We have ordered almost three times more (memorabilia) than usual,” Sardor Zouk, salesman in charge of coronation merchandise at online souvenir retailer Cool Britannia, told AFP.
Mr Joke expects demand to pick up as Saturday approaches the coronation of Charles III.
Elsewhere, the coronation presented a clear marketing opportunity.
Upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason, which supplies its tea to the royal family, is selling a special organic Coronation in Darjeeling for £19.95 ($24.90) per 200g for the coronation.
Ottilie Cunningham, one of the brand’s managers, said, “We chose Darjeeling because we understand that King Charles would drink it with a spoonful of honey.”
“We decided to select only organic tea gardens in Darjeeling because of His Majesty’s passion for organic farming.”
The ceramics company “Emma Bridgewater”, popular with royal collectors, produced a variety of tableware for the occasion, ranging from £12 for a mug, tea or coffee cup, to £28.
All of its pieces are decorated by hand, the makers say, adding that sales have started on a high note and are expected to be better than Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee last year.
The coronation will see the sale of some six million coins and medals, millions of pounds of jewellery, flags and banners as well as 10,000 teapots for the event, according to forecasts from consultants at the Center for Retail Research.
It says the cost of living crisis will backfire, with Britons and tourists expected to spend more than £245 million on souvenirs alone – and more than £1.4 billion if wider festivities are included.
‘radical’
CRR director Joshua Bamfield said, “A lot of people buying souvenirs will be older people… less affected by the cost of living – they have their own home, they have a pension.”
In the souvenir shops at the rear of the palace, customers come to browse an eclectic mix of royal memorabilia, looking to spend “£15 to £20” according to store manager Ismail Vadakkethil.
Items include protective gloves embossed with the royal coat of arms, paper towels and streamers decorated with the Union Jack, and “Monarchy is Forever” T-shirts featuring the king.
Australian Julie Whitehead, 63, said: “My mum is a staunch royalist, she has a glass cabinet with all these royal things.”
“So I’m going to get King Charles ones for him because his cabinet is full of Queen Elizabeth ones,” she said.
But while King Charles items sell well, so do souvenirs featuring the monarch’s late mother, which are very popular with royal souvenir hunters.
“I adore the Queen,” said French tourist Amelie Zer, 40, who was looking for a “small, cute souvenir” and had her heart set on a mug and a coaster.
There has been a change in the clientele in recent times, observed Mr. Vadakkethil.
He said, “Lately I’ve noticed that it’s not just tourists coming. People who work next door, in offices, Londoners themselves, they come to the shop.”
For Britons, “it’s a big event”, Bamfield said, and many people will be experiencing a coronation for the first time.
“People will be impressed by the formal aspect and will buy things to remember it,” he predicted. “It’s part of the British psyche.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)