Britain’s royalists will fork out £163 MILLION on souvenirs for when Prince William marries Kate, a study has revealed.
Researchers found one in five adults will purchase a Royal collectable and spend an average of £17 each – with mugs, tea-towels and plates the most popular items.
But seven in ten won’t admit it to friends for fear of embarrassment, because they’re ‘tacky’ and a ‘complete waste of money’.
A third said it would be out of character if they splashed out on lavish items, while one in ten said they don’t want people thinking they clutter up their houses.
Yesterday (Tues), a spokesman for Bid TV which commissioned the research amongst 2,000 Brits, said: ”Our survey shows a large percentage of the nation is caught up in the excitement of the Royal Wedding later this month.
”But while millions plan to fork out and buy souvenirs to mark this special occasion, it seems they aren’t so keen to admit it to friends and family.
”When you hear the word ‘souvenir’ the thought of tacky items, cluttering up shelves and collecting dusts in British homes spring to mind.
”And this might be enough to dissuade Brits from letting on to their pals about their purchases.
”But a cleverly thought-out item could fetch a fair few pounds in years to come, so they shouldn’t be shunned – they just need to be chosen with care.”
The survey quizzed the nation on the Royal wedding and their souvenir collecting habits.
It found 35 per cent will watch this month’s Royal wedding – which is twenty per cent down on the number who tuned into Charles and Diana’s great day in 1981.
One in ten will head to the pub with mates and a quarter will dip in and out of TV coverage.
Four in ten said the Royal Wedding this month makes them feel ‘proud to be British’, and a quarter went as far as to say it made them feel more romantic.
But many weren’t so enthusiastic – one in ten feel the wedding is a waste of money, 13 per cent it was a ‘lot of fuss about nothing’ and three in ten said they ‘didn’t care either way’.
Three in ten said they were going to treat it as a normal Bank Holiday and look forward to the time off work.
Only one per cent of people questioned said they planned to go to London to join in the celebrations
Fewer than one in twenty said they would be having a street party – compared to almost one in ten twenty years ago.
In 1981 a third bought a commemorative Royal wedding souvenir compared to just one in five this time round.
Eight in ten Brits said they won’t bother with souvenirs – one in six reckons they’re too expensive or that they’ll end up in the bin and one in twenty said the marriage ‘probably won’t even last’.
* The survey was carried out to mark the launch of bid tv’s search for Britain’s ‘Best of British’ collector on www.bidtvcollectibles.co.uk/bestofbritish
