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 | | Have You Received Yours Yet?
Sunday February 20th
 No? oddly enough, me neither, although I'm sure it's on its way. This morning the news has been filled with stories and speculation about who has received an invitation to the Wedding of The Century and who has been supposedly 'snubbed'? in the fromer group, you can place the Beckhams and in the latter, apparently, The Duchess of York.
Over 1,900 guests have been invited. of these, it seems that there will be over 150 Heads Of State, and around 1,000 will be members of the public, particularly deserving charity workers, as well as a handful of the homeless.
After the Wedding, there will be a lunchtime reception for 600 of the guests. This will be followed by a private dinner for around 300 family members and close friends.
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Sunday January 9th
 Could this possibly be the world's most unusual Royal Commemorative Gift? Yes - you're not imagining it. This is a genuine house brick, etched with the initials of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and inscribed with the letters LBC (the London Brick Company). But can this extraordinary item really be classed as a genuine piece of Royal Wedding memorabilia? Well, I did some research and here are the  facts of the matter -
To celebrate the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana some 25 years ago, the London Brick Company decided to design a Royal Wedding Brick. For a period of several months, one in every 12 bricks of the production line was made with this special design. The machinery used to imprint the Royal bricks spent a week at each of LBC's works throughout the country.
But what about the big question - is this brick a genuine Royal Wedding Commemorative? A company spokesman reveals the answer " The bricks will be used for building," said an LBC spokesman. "They will be inside houses and are for archaeological interest in the future as much as anything." Still, who's to say what's a genuine commemorative and what isn't? Would you rather have this brick on your mantlepiece or a Royal Worcester Limited Edition Lion Head Vase?
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Tuesday January 4th
Here's a long-awaited addition to our Royal Wedding 'stable'. Lilliput Lane have been one of our favourite collectable ranges for over 25 years and have justifiably earned their reputation as the world's finest modeller of miniature cottages. The beauty of Lilliput Lane lies in the stunningly accurate detail; not just in the modelling itself, but also in the incredibly intricate hand painting.
Lilliput Lane's contribution to the Royal Wedding is this magnificent working of Westminster Abbey, the venue for this year's Royal Wedding.
Here are the essential details -
The picture we have here is of the prototype - there may be a few small changes made before the model is officially 'launched'. The length is 12 inches. The depth 6 inches and the height is 5 inches. Westminster Abbey will be made in a Limited Edition of only 2,500. It's price will be £80 and the price in US Dollars will be $104.01. We can't quote for shipping until we receive the actual piece and can ascertain its weight. The inscription on the front reads 'To Celebrate The Wedding of His Royal Highness Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on the 29th April 2011.'
Take a look at Westminster Abbey from the back -
This is a great view. You can see here the grass-covered walled courtyard. Right in the centre can be seen the Royal Crest. And just admire the detail. You can see every cobblestone, every carefully worked slate on the cathedral roof, every leaf and petal on the shrubs dotted around the outside of the building.
To reserve your Lilliput Lane Westminster Abbey, click here.
If you'd like to view our full collection of Lilliput Lane Cottages, why not visit our specialist sister site, Lilliput Lane World.
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| The Day The Records Tumbled
Tuesday December 21st
 What an amazing day today proved to be. At lunchtime a press release was given out announcing the official launch of The Royal Collection. We like to be on the ball, so we made images of this wonderful 'official' collection available over a week ago. No sooner had the information appeared on the BBC website, the news flew around the world and, within an hour or two the orders came flooding in. In the space of 24 hours, we took more orders than we would normally expect to take in a typical week. Many of these orders came from 'across the water'. Our American and Canadian cousins haven't taken long to catch the Royal Wedding fever; they look like keeping us frantically busy over the next few months. The great appeal of the Royal Collection is the fact that it's the closest we'll get to an 'official' range. Manufactured from the very finest bone china in Stoke-On-Trent, the heart of the potteries, this range has been designed for, and approved by the Royal Household. Even Prince William and Catherine gave the designs the official 'nod' of approval.
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| The Aynsley Has Landed!
Friday December 17th
 Roll the drums. Sound the fanfare! We've just received our very first delivery of Royal Wedding Gifts. The Aynsley Royal Commemorative collection has arrived. Pictured left are Adell and Jamie, who braved this morning's chilly blast to pose outside our store for our hot-shot cameraman.
Now begins a weekend of unmitigated hard labour as, with all hands to the pump, noses to the grindstone (and whatever other cliche we can muster), we begin the task of processing our hundreds of orders. Firstly, everything has to be unpacked and 'checked off'. Then we have to allocate the items to the correct customers. We'll be adding extra packing to every piece - we're aiming for a 100% perfect delivery record. Then we'll be getting everything shipped out over the weekend, so that our UK customers will receive their Royal Wedding gifts well before Christmas Day.
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Unusual Royal Commemorative Gifts from the Past (1)
Thursday December 16th
 I'd like you to meet my very good friend on the left. The world's most famous Royal Commemorative Moustache Mug. You don't see many of these around today. but when this piece was made, back in 1901, the moustached mug was seen as an essential household item for Victorian gentlemen with their huge bushy moustaches. Mugs like this were used to enable these gentlemen to partake of their afternoon cup of tea without ending up with soggy whiskers! But this moustache mug is no ordinary moustache mug. Far from it. This mug was manufactured by Belleek China in Northern Ireland to commemorate the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
In recent weeks, this mug has become something of a celebrity. It's appeared on BBC Breakfast Television, on Bill and Sian's famous sofa. It has been inspected and admired on the BBC News 24 TV Channel, and has received rave reviews on regional channels throughout the UK. We've even had an executive from CBS Television in America, begging me to sell it to her!
It's a lovely piece and is certainly the oldest Royal Commemorative Gift that we have. We're delighted to show it off as we tell the world about our growing collection of Royal Wedding gifts.
And here's a thought - what piece from the 2011 Royal Wedding will be the media star in a hundred years time"
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| Official Royal Engagement Portraits Published Today
Sunday December 12
This morning Prince William and Catherine Middleton have launched their official engagement photos and quite delightful they are too.
It's a shame we're not allowed to show them, but you can see them here.
The portraits wre taken at St James's Palace. One is formal in style and the other, informal. The photographer is Mario Testino, who's always been a favourite of the Royals, having taken many portraits on the occasion of big royal events.
There was nothing stiff or contrived about the sitting. Mr Testino said the couple, who will marry on 29 April next year, were "brimming with happiness".
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Tuesday December 14th
Excitement abounds today as we received delivery of the only Aynsley Royal Engagement Wall Plate currently in existence. The bone china Royal Wedding Commemorative can be seen here in the trembling hands of our MD, Stephen Church. But we didn't let him keep if for long. After just half an hour of being admired and being made a fuss of, the plate was winging its way to the studios of the BBC, where it is due to play a starring role in an episode of the hospital drama series, Casualty. Recording is underway now for broadcast in March. Watch this space - we'll keep everyone abreast of the exact broadcst date nearer the time.
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| The Official Royal Collection
Monday December 13th
 It seems that not a day goes by without news of another 'launch' of Royal Wedding Commemorative China. Well, today is no exception. This launch, though, is a little different, for this is as close as we get to an 'official' Collection. What makes the Royal Collection of Commemorative China so special is that it is commissioned by the Royal Collection itself; this being the trust which owns thousands of paintings, drawings, watercolours, furniture, ceramics, clocks, silver, sculpture, jewellery, books, manuscripts, prints and maps, arms and armour, fans, and textiles, which are kept in the Royal Palaces. Every china range that is produced can only be done so with the approval of the Royal Household.
The Royal Wedding Commeorative collection being produced for the Royal Wedding is contemporary in style and consists of white ribbons, doves and hearts in silver, grey and gold. There are also two silver doves bearing a gold wedding ring. The centre of each piece features s mongram in silver and gold of the initials of Catherine and William, above which sits the coronet of Prince William of Wales.
This Royal Wedding Commemorative collection is made in Stoke-On-Trent, the heart of the potteries, entirley by hand from fine whte bone china.Every piece bears the Made In England backstamp.
Each piece is wrapped in white tissue, featuring designs inspired by the wall hangings of Clarence House. And of course, every piece from the Royal Collection is individually gift boxed and comes with a descroiptive leaflet.
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| Royal Crown Derby Images Arrive At Last!
Friday December 10th
 A great relief as, at last, we've received the official images of Royal Wedding Commemoratives from Royal Crown Derby.
For the past two weeks, the Royal Crown Derby page has been looking a little sad, with prices, descriptions, dimensions, but no pictures. In spite of this, our customers have shown tremendous faith and placed far more orders than we dared hope. In fact, we're worried about exceeding our allocation. When Limited Editions are as low as 500 worldwide, we're always going to struggle to satisfy the demand.
Remember - you can always make your reservation by phone. Just call us on 01604 637596 or from overseas on +44 1604 637596.
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| A Day To Remember - The Royal Engagement
Tuesday November 16th
I was sitting in my office. It was just after 11.00 am when a tentative knock at the door woke me up. Lori, one of our web specialists, informed me that the BBC had been on the phone asking for an interview about the just-announced Royal Engagement.
My initial reaction was, well that's good news. William and Kate make a lovely couple. Good for them and good for the nation; we all need cheering up, oh yes, and while we're about it , we might be able to sell a few Royal Commemorative gifts.
There was then another knock on the door. ITV wanted a word. Then a few minutes later, CBS and Sky both wanted an interview. The last couple of days have been astonishing; a non-stop merry-go-round of interviews for television, radio and news websites and newspapers. The interest has been local, national and global. There's been a dash down to London for appearances on BBC Breakfast with Bill and Sian as well as BBC News 24. CBS even phoned wanting to buy my samples from our Royal Wedding archive. I told them they couldn't afford them.
So - CONRATULATIONS! to Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton and it's down to work as we prepare for our best ever offer of Royal Wedding gifts!
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| Delivery date for Aynsley Royal Wedding Gifts Confirmed
Thursday December 9th
 Important and welcome news today. We received a call from John Wallis, MD of Aynsley China, to confirm that our first delivery of Aynsley China Royal Wedding Commemoratives will be arriving on Friday of next week. (John says we're at the top of the top of the pile. I'm sure he won't let us down!). We'll be standing outside the shop on Friday, ready to welcome the lorry in. Then we're faced with a manic weekend, getting the delivery 'picked and packed' ready to go out first thing on Monday morning. Every parcel will be sent by first-class post, so we're confident that everyone's order will be delivered well in time for the Christmas break.
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| Three Cheers for Prince William of Wales
Wednesday December 8th
 It seems that Prince William doesn't agree with the Royal Household. Reports say that he's of the view that commemorative tea towels should be encouraged; they're an essential part of Royal Wedding tradition. We can't say that we disagree.
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| Buckingham Palace 'Bans Royal Wedding Tea Towels'
Tuesday December 7th
'Palace killjoys have banned official tea towels marking the Royal Wedding' - not our words, but those of the ever-reliable 'Currant Bun' - the Sun Newspaper. Apparently, the officials of the Royal Household are not prepared to officially endorse the merchandising of items such as Tea Towels and Tee-Shirts. Our view is that they are entitled to their view. Our policy is to supply whatever is in demand, provided it's of the highest quality.
Our image to the left shows a commemorative tea towel, marking the Royal Wedding of 1981, featuring Prince Charles and a strangely glum look Lady Diana Spencer.
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| Halcyon Days Launches 2 Royal Engagement Masterpieces
Monday December 6th
 In the earliest days of Royal Commemorative ware, hand-painted miniature enamel boxes were considered most desirable. Made from beautifully crafted copper, and intricately decorated by hand, these little boxes were the fashion accessory of the late eighteenth century. Today, Halcyon Days Enamels, the modern day masters of this wonderful craft, launched their own collection for the Royal Engagement.
There are two pieces - one, on the left, a Limited Edition of only 250 and the other and the other, on the right, a little memento heart box, featuring the couple's famous sapphire engagement ring.
We're also showing these two little gems on our dedicated Halcyon days website - Halcyon Days World. here you'll find the web's best selection of those fantastic little enamel boxes.
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Friday November 19th
 Hot news today. We've been able to acquire the rights to sell the Replica Royal Engagement Ring. The story of Prince William's proposal is already the suff of folklore.
The ring was originally purchased by Prince Charles back in 1981 on the occasion of his engagement to Lady Diana Spencer. Rumour has it that he paid upward of £30,000 for the ring - a tidy sum 30 years ago, but it's value today? Many many times the original amount. The ring has a gold band and the stunning sapphire stone is set in silver and is encircled by 14 sparkling diamonds.
Commenting touchingly on why he chose his mother's enagagement ring to present to his fiancee, he said, "I didn't want her to miss out on all the excitement."
Our replica engagement ring is made of sterling silver and consists of a sapphire coloured glass centre stone, surrounded by 14 sparkling stones made of cubic zircona. We have the ring in 3 sizes - L,N and Q (approximately 17, 18 and 19 mm respectively).
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Wednesday November 17th 
 First off the blocks with their Royal Engagement collection is world-renowned English China manufacturer, Aynsley Chna. Aynsley have traditionally been on the ball with their Royal Commemoratives and this occasion is no exception. The Aynsley Royal Commemorative range has tremendous 'collector appeal'.
Employing tradional manufacturing techniques and styling, the Aynsley China is bound to prove a top seller. The big question is. Aynsley are the firsr to announce their range, but will it be with us in time for Christmas? Time will tell.
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