Souvenirs made obsolete by royal wedding change

It bears the image of Britain's most recognisable middle-aged lovebirds. He aristocratic, she perhaps the barest glimmer of triumph in her eye at capturing her man after 30 years in pursuit.

But anyone purchasing this token of the forthcoming wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles would be advised to check the small print.

With today's announcement that the Prince would delay Friday's ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall, thousands of tea towels, key rings, magnets, jigsaws, aprons, bags and paper weights ringing out the good news of the couple's marriage were suddenly fatally flawed: they carried the wrong date.

But it was not just the souvenir shops - one of which said it had shifted 5000 commemorative tea towels - that were being hit. The Royal Mint was forced to remodel its souvenir, while the Royal Mail said it could be forced to scrap the collectors' set of commemorative stamps it had issued.

On the other hand, one factory in Stoke-on-Trent said it had received 500 calls from people eager to acquire items with the now-incorrect date of April 8.

But they could be on to a loser, according to the only existing historical precedent.

The last minute postponement of the 1902 coronation of, Edward VII due to illness left an indelible mark on the world of royal memorabilia. Collectors now trade two types of commemorative mugs. Those with the right date - August 9 1902 - sell for upwards of £120 each ($320), twice that of those that bear the wrong one six weeks earlier.

- INDEPENDENT