No official memorabilia for baby Sussex
● Prince Harry and Meghan’s baby will not have Royal merchandise line
No official memorabilia will mark the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new baby, the Royal Family has confirmed, as royal watchers expectantly wait for news.
Unofficial merchandise including tea towels, babygros and mugs celebrating the expected royal baby – believed to be due any day – are flooding online retail outlets. However, the Royal Collection Trust based at St James Palace, which issues memorabilia to mark special occasions relating to the Royal Family, said it will not release an official line of merchandise to mark the arrival of the new baby.
The couple, who are known as the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton in Scotland and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in England, have said the birth will not be announced immediately, instead maintaining the news will be kept under wraps until they have had a chance to celebrate privately.
Lines of merchandise have been on sale by the Royal Collection Trust following the birth of all three of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children, George, Charlotte and Louis. Among the items created to mark Prince Louis’s birth last year were an official commemorative pillbox at £35 and a pram decoration at £14.95. But a spokeswoman for the trust said: “We have no new ranges to announce.”
Unofficially, however, royal fans have a large choice of souvenirs, which is only likely to increase further after the baby is born. On retail site Ebay, a royal baby tea towel is on sale for £13.99, featuring a picture of a traditional pram and the year “2019” surrounded by images of crowns, bunting featuring British and American flags to mark both Harry and Meghan’s heritage and even a corgi dog wearing royal robes. An American seller, presumably hoping to cash in on the Royal Family’s popularity on the other side of the Atlantic, has produced a “Royal Baby Watch” mug for “Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan”, selling at $13.49 (around £10).
A short-sleeved babygro for sale on Redbubble.com for £13.63 shows a picture of Harry in a suit and Megan wearing an elegant blue dress, standing beside a pram, alongside the words “Royal Baby April 2019” – optimistically expecting the royal birth will take place before tomorrow.
The couple’s new social media account earlier this month broke the record for the fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram, according to the Guinness World Records.
The account, @sussexroyal, set up at the start of this month, reached the one million milestone in five hours and 45 minutes. It now has 5.3 million followers. The Earl and Countess of Dumbarton married in May last year. Their child, when he or she is born,willbeseventhinline to the throne.