Merchandise goes on sale within hours

Merchandise marking the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Merkle has already begun to flood online sales sites.

Within just a few hours of the announcement of the royal engagement this morning, Ebay has already received listings for £9.99 commemorative mugs with a picture of the couple, while two website domains linking Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have gone up for sale with an asking price of £25,000.

Clarence House announced the couple’s engagement yesterday morning following weeks of rumours that they were imminently set to make their union public.

Two websites featuring the names of the couple - www. harryandmeghan.com and www.harryandmeghan.co.uk - were listed on ebay yesterday morning. The seller, Retro Mugs, which usually sells printed mugs on the site, said: “A wedding is on the cards! Once they’re hitched these domains will be gold dust. Fantastic for a royalty website or to just drive traffic to your own site.”

Tea towels, for £7.99 and thimbles for £3.95 bearing images and words relating to the couple’s engagement have also been put up for sale. Royal events have long been credited with boosting consumer spending.

In 2013, the birth of the Queen’s first grandchild, Prince George, generated an estimated £247 million for the UK economy in retail sales.