royal

As I rode my bicycle through central London today, I noticed a strange thing – there was a lot less traffic than usual. Of course it was still a bit hairy avoiding the double-deckers and the ever-growing glut of foreign tourists hanging outside the Buckingham Palace (watching various groups of guards, horsemen, construction workers building a media stand), but the rest of London was quiet – a little too quiet.

She is a former British Airways air-hostess (that’s a flight attendant over here) and the co-founder of a party supply empire. Her personal style has been compared to that of Carla Bruni, and she is the mother of the future queen of England. It seems, however, the biggest claim to fame of Carole Middleton is the French diet she’s on.

First off, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: For those of you who very generously gave me a wedding gift, I would like to say that, without exception, my husband and I love every single salad bowl, fruit bowl, mixing bowl, finger bowl and soup tureen we received and each of said items has a place of honour in our home.

Justin Bieber beware. The Canadian pop idol is going to have to do more than insult Americans to stay on top of the charts come the end of April, as it’s just been announced that iTunes will be peddling a royal wedding album, just hours after the ceremony is over.

I’ve written in this space about the “Throne Up” royal wedding barf bags and the commemorative royal mug with the picture of Kate and her betrothed – errrr – Prince Harry on the side. In a desperate attempt to cash in on the wedding of this century, royal opportunists from London to Hong Kong are flogging fine collectibles. It seems, however, these trinkets are being hustled from within the proverbial palace walls as well.