Royal watcher Margaret Tyler drinks from the William and Kate mug

London, Dec. 21: Indians coming to London for the royal wedding ought to keep a bit of cash aside for souvenirs which will vary from the tasteful to the tacky.

Yesterday, the Royal Collections unveiled the first category — three pieces that have been personally approved by Prince William and his fiancée, Kate Middleton.

Handcrafted in English fine bone china and featuring 22-carat gold; the tankard, plate and pill box are each decorated with the couple’s entwined initials.

The tankard costs £35, the eight-inch plate £40 and pill box £25 — not very cheap but not outrageously expensive either. The plates could certainly be used for serving rosogulla and mishti doi on special occasions in the best homes in Calcutta, the pill box for keeping paper clips, pins and rubber bands at work, and the tankard to drink half cups of chai or, South Indians, rasam. But it is wisest not to let the servants do the washing.

The pill box costing £25

The Prince’s coronet appears above the letters — W in gold and C in silver — and written in a circle are the words, “To celebrate the marriage of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton 29th April 2011.”

All pieces come in a presentation box and are wrapped in white tissue paper printed with designs inspired by the wall hangings in Clarence House.

They are available from the Royal Collection website and its shops at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and will also be sold at Balmoral, Highgrove and Sandringham.

The tankard costing £35

All profits from the sale of the royal wedding range are dedicated to the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity set up by the Queen in 1993 under the chairmanship of Prince Charles to look after the Royal Family’s art works and make them available to the public.

Staffs at the Royal Collection have worked flat out since the engagement was announced on November 16.

Nuala McGourty, the Royal Collection’s director of retail, said: “The Royal Collection has always supported the traditional skills and craftsmanship of the Stoke-on-Trent potteries. With the official commemorative range of bone china for the forthcoming royal wedding, we are proud to continue to champion products made in England.”

The eight-inch plate costing £40

She added: “Doves, white ribbons, and hearts in silver, gold and grey, set against a pale-grey striped background, decorate the whole range.”

But as Indian visitors to London will discover, the market will be flooded with non-official souvenirs to mark the wedding.

However, there is still no consensus on whether William’s fiancée should be addressed as “Catherine”, her formal Christian name, or Kate, the name preferred by the tabloids and hence ordinary members of the public. It is likely that she will be referred to in official announcements as “Catherine” as one day she will become “Queen Catherine” rather than “Queen Kate”.

The Royal Collection approved by William and Kate

Bosses at a gift shop at Sandringham, the royal estate in Norfolk where the Queen will spend Christmas, are playing safe by using both versions. A £4.99 paperweight and a 50pence postcard “commemorate” the wedding of William and “Catherine Middleton”. But a £8.99 calendar for next year is captioned “Prince William & Kate Middleton”.

After the wedding, Kate is likely to be given a fancy title by the Queen and called the Duchess of something or the other. But to most of her subjects, she is still Kate.

There will be plenty of mugs, plates, tea towels, cushions and other souvenirs, some made in China no doubt, bearing the legend, “William & Kate”.

The Royal Collections have clearly decided that since there is money to be made, the “firm” should have a share of the loot.