As many around the world celebrated the news that royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton were expecting, British pottery company Emma Bridgewater was hard at work producing what is perhaps the first royal baby souvenir.
The firm's blue, red and white mugs with the words, “A royal baby in 2013,” were in production starting Tuesday morning, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. However, they have not appeared on the company's website yet.
According to the Press Association, the mugs will retail for £19.95 (about $32). The other side of the mug reads, "Hooray for Will & Kate."
Emma Bridgewater's head of manufacturing Mark Thomas said his company moved quickly in order to mirror the success of its royal wedding and Queen's Jubilees sales. Plus, it's clear there's going to be a market, BBC notes.
"It's also apparent from the media coverage over the last 24 hours that the American market will be strong too, so we're hoping this will help us move more sales into the United States," Thomas told the BBC.
According to the BBC, the firm said it sold £3.2 million (about $5.1 million) worth of commemorative ceramic ware for the Diamond Jubilee and £1 million (about $1.6 million) worth of souvenirs for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
While the couple's huge 2011 wedding was pricey, the showy nuptials resulted in lucrative business for souvenir companies.
Bloomberg projected that $1.6 billion-plus in wedding-related revenue would be injected into the British economy as a result.
