Kitsch Me, Kate

Attack of the wedding swag

By Feifei Sun Monday, Apr. 18, 2011
    • Martin Parr for TIME

    Love is all Prince William and Kate Middleton need: they've asked that charitable donations be made in lieu of gifts. But that doesn't mean the rest of town isn't cashing in. Economists predicted the royal wedding would give London a business boost, and already there's no shortage of swag for sale in anticipation of William and Kate's April 29 nuptials, from the classy (commemorative china) to the ... less classy (Crown Jewels condoms; nail polish called No More Waity, Katie).

    "People want to be a part of this wedding, and there's money to be made," says Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Even more robust than the lowbrow merch trade is the market for knockoffs of items worn by the future Princess, which has benefited from an extremely short production cycle. Within 24 hours of the engagement, the Natural Sapphire Co. was offering a copy of the famous blue ring, and many other jewelers soon followed. Natural Sapphire's versions range in price from $550 to $1.5 million; so far, it has sold more than 1, 000 rings. (It took the company almost two months to produce a replica of the same ring in 1981, and it sold only 30-something copies.) Customers simply ask for the Kate Middleton ring, says Evan Guttman of Natural Sapphire. "And when they walk out, they're almost prancing."

    Middleton's sartorial choices have generated equal excitement, with the blue Issa dress she wore to announce her engagement spawning a handful of hard-to-get knockoffs. One look-alike "Kate" shift by Tesco appeared two weeks later and sold out online in less than an hour, which means that while Middleton herself is no longer in waiting, those who want to copy her Princess style may have to be.

    A souvenir for every taste, from appreciative to, well, not so appreciative