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One is most amused: Designers reveal their modern take on William and Kate memorabilia...

With Wills’ and Kate’s big day just months away, we ask a band of designers to come up with memorabilia that’s a cut above the usual tat

Lena Corner
Sunday 12 December 2010 01:00 GMT
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Ever since Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement on 16 November, producers of royal memorabilia have gone into overdrive. Asda was first off the mark. "Nothing says congratulations like your face on a mug," a spokesperson declared as the shelves creaked beneath the weight of £5 commemorative cups. On eBay, there are sets of bone-china thimbles featuring the happy couple's faces (buy now for £4.95!) and, of course, the Royal Mint is busily perfecting that top-secret coin design.

The wedding of Charles and Diana proved there is a big buck to be made in knocking out this stuff and back in 1981 we could hardly move for tea towels, coasters, clocks and any other item you could get an image of two people's faces to stick to. Such was the haul from that wedding that even the less exciting nuptials of Edward and Sophie saw more than 120 different ranges in production.

This time round, we have decided to take a different approach. In our homage to the wedding of Big Willie to his Babykins, we have asked a select group of young design talent to chuck out the chintz, the coins and the thimbles and create one-off pieces of modern memorabilia exclusively for The Independent on Sunday. After all, it's a momentous occasion, so we'll all need something to remember it by...

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