Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981 is thought to have cost more than £30 million[2], and generated £680 million in retail sales, the equivalent of £2.04 billion in today's money. More than 600,000 people gathered in London and 750 million people watched it on TV across the world. Although this royal wedding is not expected to be on the same scale, it is still anticipated that the royal family and the government will treat the wedding as a major occasion. However, the royal family and the government will want to avoid accusations of extravagance at a time of economic stringency and reductions in public spending.

Celebration Spending, Royal Wedding Merchandise & Tourists
Households across the nation are expected to join in the celebrations, spending an additional £236.5 million on celebratory food and drink. Of this total, it is anticipated that £130 million will be spent on food and £97.5 million on alcohol, with half a million bottles of champagne alone being consumed at a cost of £9 million.

A Royal occasion such as this cannot be expected to pass without the usual range of souvenirs and memorabilia being created to mark the event. Total spending on merchandise is expected to reach £222.3 million. By far the biggest sellers are expected to be commemorative books, biographies and albums, with anticipated sales of around 6 million units at a total value of £45 million. Sales of other souvenirs including tea towels, tea caddies, trays, models and flags are expected to be worth £26.9 million. The report also predicts that 5 million coins, medallions and tokens will be sold at a value of £24.9 million, and that sales of stationery and pens will reach £22.9 million. In addition, around 3 million mugs and pottery products - from individual items to dinner services and costly mementoes - will be sold with a retail value of £18 million, while those of replica and souvenir jewellery could reach £10 million.

The impact of the wedding will not just be limited to domestic spending. An additional 320,000 overseas visitors are expected to travel to the UK especially for the royal wedding, boosting retail spending by £56.7 million, and spending an average of £177 each.

Online spending
Of the additional £515.5 million in retail spending that the royal wedding is anticipated to generate, £76.9 million (14.9%) will be carried out online, compared to the current average of 10.5%. Around 25.9% (£57.7 million) of royal wedding merchandise (souvenirs and memorabilia) will be bought online, while internet sales will account for almost 60% of purchases by overseas customers.

Joe Cross, Brand Manager at Kelkoo comments: "At a time when the headlines seem to be dominated by bad news, the nation is rightly seizing the opportunity to celebrate something positive. William and Kate's big day will be a cause for universal celebration, and an inevitable by-product of this will be an increase in retail spending. With the many challenges that 2011 is anticipated to bring for retailers, the £515.5 million boost that the royal wedding is expected to deliver will undoubtedly provide some welcome relief."