Not-so-regal royal wedding souvenirs
Even if you can’t make it to London for the royal wedding, you can still revel in the wide range of souvenirs commemorating the April 29 event.
It’s a given that there are enough commemorative plates, coins, tea pots, tea towels, coasters, champagne flutes, pillows, shortbread tins, paper dolls, stickers, postcards, pencils, magnets and thimbles to fill Buckingham Palace.
But the campiest souvenirs are the most memorable, including William and Kate bobble-heads, a replica engagement ring and nail clippers with a photo medallion of the glamorous duo. (Because that’s who you really want to think about when you’re trimming your toenails.)
One of the more clever keepsakes is the KaTEA & William greeting card with tea bags. “It all started with a cup of tea,” the card reads. Each Assam tea bag has a cardboard cutout attached — one of Kate dressed in a pale blue wedding gown and another of William in military regalia ($8 at Pylones-usa.com).
For the craftsy set, Fiona Goble’s book, “Knit Your Own Royal Wedding” ($11.70 at Amazon.com) has instructions on how to stitch doll versions of all the players — even the queen’s corgi.
If you’d rather wear your wedding fervor, online retailer CafePress.com has custom T-shirts emblazoned with such cheeky phrases as “Royal Wedding Crasher,” “It should have been me” and “Don’t do it, Kate!”
But true fashion fans might fancy the commemorative plastic cameos by whimsical London jewelry label Tatty Devine. Designed by Rosie Wolfenden and Harriet Vine, the colorful rings, pendants and earrings depict the happy couple in silhouette, with an inscription of the royal wedding date. (About $35 to $103 at TattyDevine.com.)
British clothier Ted Baker has created the “Better Kate Than Never” collection of quintessentially British gifts and accessories in celebration of the big event, including handbags, silk scarves and boxer shorts with Union Jack, crown and rose floral motifs, as well as a commemorative tea towel printed with the wedding date and popular Britishism “A right royal knees up” (slang for a raucous good time). The collection, $22 to $295, is at Ted Baker stores and at TedBaker.com.
Or there’s always No More Waity, Katie, the newest nail polish shade from cosmetics company Butter London. Described as “a soft elegant greige with a hint of lilac glitter,” it sells for $14 a bottle at Butterlondon.com.
Sadly for those who see any wedding — live, televised, royal or a crazy relative’s — as a time to par-tay, Castle Rock Brewery’s Kiss Me Kate beer is only distributed in the United Kingdom. But royal wedding prophylactics by Crown Jewels Condoms of Distinction (with a collectible portrait in each three-pack) are available to ship from CrownJewelsCondoms.com.
And, if you’ve had enough of the wedding hoopla already, this item could come in handy. Created by graphic designer Lydia Leith, the royal wedding sick bag ($5 at Lydialeith.com) features a line drawing of the soon-to-weds under the words “throne up.”
