Britain's Prince William (R) and his fiancee Kate Middleton arrive at The Thursford Collection in Norfolk, England, December 18, 2010. REUTERS/Paul Hackett
She may not be a member of the royal family yet, but even Kate Middleton knows a true lady never asks for swag during a recession.
As Britain continues to pay down its national debt, and as the Coalition government enacts the toughest austerity measures in decades, Kate and Wills may ask wedding guests to donate to charity rather than buying them lavish presents. “It is one thing being studied,” an unidentified spokesman told the Associated Press on January 16. Apparently it takes a team of royal wedding planners to decide if the pair really need thousands of outlandish presents. In 1981, Prince Charles and Princess Diana received more than 6,000 wedding gifts including a piece of crocheted lace spun by Mahatma Gandhi, and a gold model of an Arab sailing dhow encrusted with gems from the Emir of Bahrain. Try making space for that on your coffee table.
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Prince William already serves as president or patron of more than 20 charities, and each could benefit from his nuptial. And according to the Daily Mail, Kate Middleton and her family, who could pocket quite a bit of money as a result of the wedding, are long-time supporters of the Starlight Children’s Foundation for sick and terminally ill children.
If the future king and queen do take the charitable route, surely they have enough cash on hand to treat themselves to something special on their big day. NewsFeed suggests they start with a few unofficial commemorative wedding plates, or perhaps the commemorative wedding coin that depicts a decidedly plumper Kate.