the red queen the white queen and the kingmaker's daughter

M&S’s food development director, Kathryn Turner, said its customers “love a keepsake”, and the retailer expects to sell more than 1m of its collectible tea and shortbread tins. It rapidly assembled its dedicated product range – which includes a £25 light-up cushion and special coronation Colin the Caterpillar cake – after the date was confirmed in October. Marks & Spencer said that more than 200,000 customers had searched its website for coronation gifts and biscuits this year. Much of the merchandise riffs on the country’s love of tea and biscuits, with stores expected to sell 3.8m cups, mugs and plates as well as 10,000 teapots and millions of collectible biscuit tins. The high street is currently awash with patriotic cushions, tote bags and throws rushed into production after the date was confirmed last autumn. For every £2,250 enamel music box playing Handel’s Zadok the Priest produced with great skill by Halcyon Days, there are a million union jack T-shirts and tea towels.

the red queen the white queen and the kingmaker

The royal souvenir trade is a broad church. “We put a lot of heart and soul into the designing and it works when we read the mood of our customers right.”Ĭommemorative cakes at the Biscuiteers company in London, where orders have been rolling in ahead of the event. “The cost of living is bearing down hard on all of us and our customers are real people,” said Bridgewater. The company has already sold more than £1m worth of its commemorative ware, which urges “three cheers for King Charles”, despite the fact that “normal sales are a struggle at the moment”. “If we could we would, but we can’t make earthenware cookware at the moment,”said Bridgewater. Sadly, there is no “coronation quiche” dish. People are very inclined to put aside what their actual politics might be in favour of a bunting-swathed event because it’s so nice.”īridgewater’s distinctive cream earthenware is made in Stoke-on-Trent and “royal events have always meant jobs” for the city, she said.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the CRR thinks the overall figure could top £1.4bn if cash spent on hosting parties and going out, as well as by tourists, is totted up.Įmma Bridgewater, founder of the eponymous pottery brand, said: “This mysterious thing happens around a royal event.

The nation is expected to spend nearly £250m on souvenirs and memorabilia, with crockery, coins, flags, books and stationery the big sellers, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

“We felt going into it that it would be equal to a jubilee but I feel it’s going to outstrip it. “It’s definitely a bigger deal than a wedding,” she continued. She said: “Watching the factory floor is just a miracle at the moment. Pamela Harper is chief executive of Halcyon Days, where staff are working round the clock in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, to produce fine bone china products for the coronation.

The red queen the white queen and the kingmaker's daughter