DATA STORY: The royal wedding is a billion dollar boost for the British economy

It’s done. The British Royal family’s Prince Harry and American TV actress Meghan Markle have been proclaimed husband and wife.

The Indian memories of the British monarchy and the royals may not be very pleasant but the British love them and want to learn every little detail about the royalty, especially the weddings.

Several others, however, aren’t too chuffed about the idea of a royal family in a democracy and how British taxpayers pay out of their pockets to keep it running.

In fact, in the week prior to the wedding, 32,000 signatures were handed over to British MPs as part of a petition calling for the government to ‘not spend any public money on the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, including the cost of policing and security’.

Bridebook.co.uk – a wedding planning service in the UK - puts Harry and Meghan’s wedding bill close to 32 million pounds (approximately Rs 295 crore).

Another estimate pegs the expenditure at around 36 million pounds (approximately Rs 331 crore).

The cost of security arrangements is to be paid by the British taxpayer, states the BBC in this report.

Bridebook’s estimates put the cost of security arrangements at a whopping 30 million pounds. The Royal family will take care of the leftover costs of the other private elements of the wedding.

However, if one goes by the numbers, this royal wedding may actually be credit positive for the British economy.

As per Centre for Retail Research – an independent research firm that tracks global trends in the retail sector – the union of Prince Harry & Meghan Markle is going to generate retail sales of an estimated four times the money spent on the wedding. The report states that an estimated 120 million pounds of retail sales will emanate from the wedding.

The sales worth 120 million pounds comprise 30 million of memorabilia sales (globally), 35 million of celebrations primarily on food and drink, 10 million of newspaper and book sales including souvenir issues and a whopping 45 million worth of fashion sales - meaning bridal wear/clothing and luxury items before and after the wedding.

Now if the last number about fashion sales is a little difficult to digest for you, some information about the 'Meghan Effect' will help you understand the economics of the wedding better.

In December 2017, Meghan carried a 495 pound (Rs 45,480) worth leather tote bag from a hitherto little known company from Scotland - Strathberry - at her first royal outing with Prince Harry.

Within minutes, the bag was sold out. Guy and Leeanne Hundleby - the husband-wife co-founders of Strathberry  - who gave up their jobs to launch the firm had to scramble attending to phone calls as sales went through the roof.

A similar thing happened when Meghan wore an alpaca coat from Bojana Sentaler on last year's Christmas church service in the UK. The coat was sold out and the demand sprung up from all across the world.

Another British company – a ceramics manufacturer – Emma Bridgewater sold 1,000 ‘Harry & Meghan’ mugs within 24 hours of their engagement at 20 pounds apiece.

Brand Finance - a brand valuation and consulting firm - has gone on to say that the Royal wedding would translate to an over $1 billion boost for the British economy in total. This includes an estimated amount of PR value and tourism generated from the wedding aside from retail sales and merchandise.

Apart from merchandise, the valuables from the wedding day often themselves become collectables and are auctioned later.

In fact, a guest present at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981 managed to save a piece of cake from the event and will be auctioning it for sale now!

Similarly, the wedding menu of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011 fetched 800 pounds (approximately Rs 73,500) four years later at an auction.

The exclusivity of the weddings and the royals, perhaps, lends a Midas touch to everything about them.

Call it frenzy or a fad, in business parlance, the wedding is surely an activity that generates high economic value.