Why collecting Royal trinkets is no mug’s game
WHILE the ‘abdication’ of Prince Harry and wife Meghan from official duties spells bad news for the Windsor family, it may herald a boost in values for collectors of Royal mementos.
For now at least, the couple are keeping their ‘His and Her Royal Highness’ as well as ‘Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ titles. As a result, they should be able to cash in on the ‘Sussex Royal’ trademark, used for selling everything from greeting cards to clothing.
The couple’s departure to Canada will have little immediate effect on the value of such manufactured mementos and trinkets. But the historic significance of their departure, which has caused a constitutional crisis, can make rare related Royal items worth more.
Ron Smith, who runs Royal collectables trading website Commemorabilia, says: ‘It is unexpected events that affect the value of collectables. Harry and Meghan quitting Britain will do nothing for the value of mass-produced royal souvenirs – it is only those hard to find historic pieces that attract the attention of investors. And for this, you often have to go back to an era when the Monarch ruled supreme – and could cry “off with their head” if they did not like what was going on. This latest episode shows just how times have changed for our Monarchy.’
The last time there was an abdication of duties in the Royal Family was in December 1936. This is when Edward VIII relinquished the Crown – to marry another American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. He had been due to be crowned in May 1937 and mugs for the event had been produced in their many thousands. If you find one of these Coronation mugs collecting dust on the top of the dining room dresser you have an interesting artefact worth perhaps £20. But a few of these pottery pieces were then altered to become ‘abdication mugs’. The Royal Family was not amused by this change and few examples of this later mug survive, but investors might pay up to £100 for one.
Smith says: ‘A more recent example of a Royal commemorative item that was strongly disapproved of by the Establishment – and soon stopped from being sold – was the Princess Margaret divorce mug.’
Cups produced to mark this occasion, when Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister formally separated from Lord Snowdon in 1978, change hands for up to £100 if in top condition. Later cups produced to mark the split between Harry’s parents Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, which happened in 1996, sell for £50. Cups that marked their wedding in 1981 trade for under £10. Collectables
of Royals that fall out of favour can also rise in value. The latest family feuding among the Windsors is mild compared to the bitter falling out between the ‘drunk’ King George IV and his German wife Princess Caroline of Brunswick in the early 19th Century.
King George was crowned in 1821 but bolted closed the doors of Westminster Abbey to stop his wife being formally announced Queen. Humiliated after being refused entry, she fell ill that night and died three weeks later.
Despite the King’s dislike of Caroline – who was described by a critic as ‘undeniably no beauty’ – the public took her to their hearts and were appalled at the scandalous way she was treated at the Coronation. Commemorative jugs made to mark her death now sell for as much as £500. Although the jugs were in high demand, few were made as potters wanted to avoid any disapproval from the unpopular Monarch.
The official Royal commemorative market only really took off under the reign of Queen Victoria – when the idea of having something patriotic sitting pride of place on the mantelpiece took hold. Cups for her 1838 Coronation are rare and sell for £1,000.
By the time of her 1897 Diamond Jubilee the commemorative industry was thriving. These later mass-produced cups sell for as little as £20 today.
Dan Wade, manager at dealer Paul Fraser Collectibles, believes that when it comes to collecting Royal items you should study history. He says: ‘Notable moments in history can have a dramatic effect on long-term values. It is still too early to say what impact this latest crisis will have, but the bigger it is, the higher the price of related items.’
Wade says a Royal Family Christmas menu signed by Prince Harry in 1993 recently sold for £2,750. A slice of lemon and elderberry wedding cake from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s big day in 2018 was valued at £1,000 at the time – but now investors might be prepared to pay double this amount for the same cut of sponge.
A slice of cake for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s marriage in 2011 changed hands for £5,500 in 2014. Although the Duke and Duchess may not have the same ‘celebrity’ status as Harry and Meghan, his cake has greater historic significance because he is closer to the Throne.