The British Royal Wedding - Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress and the Effect on the Economy

The marriage of British Royals, Prince William and Kate Middleton is sure to set the dailies alight in the UK and also in the USA where the Americans appear to love the Royals more than the Brits do. Of course there is less effect on the US citizens as they are not ruled by the Royal Family in the same way the British are and although, by and large, the Royal Family keeps itself at arms lengths from Politics on the surface at least, it is probably not a well known fact that Parliaments can not be open or closed without Royal agreement, so for example, in the unlikely event of a Marxist government being democratically elected, the Queen (or King at that time) could refuse to open parliament. Also, whatever the majority is in Parliament, even if totally unanimous, no act of law can come into being unless the Queen signs it. Of course, in reality, this is unlikely to happen but could in certain circumstances.

But the vast majority of people will not be considering that during the wedding celebrations and will be more focussed on the ceremony itself and which designer will be designing Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress (a British designer is currently rumoured). It is interesting that the media seem to be building her up in the same mould as Princess Diana, that of the girl next door (though I doubt many of us have neighbours like that!).

Of course, along with the pomp and ceremony of the Royal Wedding, the fact is that it will also have a significant knock on effect on the British Economy and possibly in the US too.

Recent research shows that it is likely to bring a boost to UK retailers in the region of just over £525 million and over 6.5 million people are expected to mark the event in some way, perhaps by purchasing some merchandise.

The highest expenditure, perhaps unsurprisingly for the UK is expected to be food and drink with over £100 million expected to be spent on alcohol including of course, champagne. This is followed by the various merchandise and paraphenalia such as mugs, commemorative coins etc totalling around £200 million.

Of course, during the celebrations, the UK will see an influx of visitors with well over 1/4 million expected to visit for the Wedding, generating an extra £60 million or so in retail sales. On top of which, additional Bank Holiday spending by the general public will probably generate around £100 million.

Although this wedding is unlikely to be on the same scale as that of Charles and Diana, none the less, those with Royalist sympathies and perhaps others too given the state of the Economy in the UK are likely to appreciate the Royal Wedding as an escape from the problems of cuts and cutbacks that are hitting the vast majority of its population.

Whilst there will no doubt be opposition to the wedding, there is little doubt that the distraction caused by the wedding will come as a welcome relief for David Cameron and the Conservative government and given the figures above, from the retail sector in the UK too.