14Apr2005
By the time you get to read this it will all be over. No, I am not talking about the Hurricanes playing the Warratahs in Wellington on Sunday afternoon. I’m speaking of the wedding of Charles and Camilla at Windsor last Saturday. As we know the wedding was scheduled for Friday but the Pope’s funeral on Wednesday threw the whole organisation into turmoil. They were having to wind the clock forward 24 hours to accommodate the wedding. This change was to line the pockets of entrepreneurs and frustrated caterers. Look what happened. Everyone was on their way to Windsor Friday last. And then Pope John Paul II passed away.
The principal beneficiaries of these change of plans were the vendors of wedding memorabilia, caterers, airlines and suit hire firms. Those t-shirts, tea towels and commemorative mugs all emblazoned with the wedding date “8th April 2005” suddenly became collectors’ items.
I remember my mother allowing me on special occasions like my birthday or Christmas day to have my porridge out of a bowl which proclaimed the coronation of Edward VII - an event which never took place. Yes things were bad in those days. We did have to eat porridge on Christmas day. But as a special treat I sometimes got four or five muscatels in the mix. On ordinary days I used to taunt my mother “Mum, can I have my porridge out of ‘the King who never was plate’ today?” This was in pre non smacking times and I’d get a quick clip about the ears. “No you can’t. This is a very valuable plate”.
Well, out in circulation now are thousands of very valuable “Charles and Camilla April 8th 2005” wrong date mugs and plates. Early last week the sales of wedding memorabilia had been extremely slow. But as soon as the wedding date was changed all hell broke loose. I spoke with Charlie Ferguson who’s had a stall down in Notting hill’s Portobello Road for twenty years. I met him last year at his stand one Saturday morning. His stall specialises in old second-hand 78 and LP records like Bing Crosby, The Ink Spots, Gracie Fields, the Seekers together with the greatest assortment of the strangest junk you’ve ever seen. Not that Bing Crosby’s crooning was junk, but you get my drift. “What’s with the Charles and Camilla mugs and the tea towels Charlie?” “Well originally I bought up a special line of mugs and plates from Taiwan. Sales were very slow. Then Saturday a week ago they changed the wedding date. The sales took off. I sent an email to my supplier in Taiwan. “Send me three containers of those same mugs and plates you sent earlier. Airfreight.” I sold the lot within 24 hours. All this came about as a result of the Pope’s death. Now I’m not a religious man but I’m seriously thinking of turning a Catholic. I’ve made a fortune. Next time you come to see me I’ll have moved out of those old run down digs in Braddiston Road, West Kilburn and gone upmarket somewhere in Maida Vale. It’s an ill wind that blows somebody good.” Whilst Charlie Ferguson stallholder, Portobello Road made a fortune out of the change of date spare a thought for Ranahunate Medge one of Bombay’s lunch box deliverymen. He’s the president of Bombay’s Dabbawallahs Association. They’re the people who everyday for the last 104 years have transported 200,000 lunches from private homes to offices in Bombay central business district using an intricate system of colour coding to ensure the meals go to the right place. Last month the Dabbawallahs sent wedding gifts. A sari and bangles for Mrs Parker-Bowles and a turban for Prince Charles. As a result the Association of Dabbawallahs received an invitation from the British High Commission in Bombay for two officials to attend the wedding. “We’ve got our visas and prepared to leave” said Mr Medge adding that air tickets and a two day hotel stay had been arranged. But now the dates been changed we’ve got to re-arrange the delivery of 200,000 meals in Bombay next Sunday. This extra day we are away could cost us thousands of rupees. But no worry the owner of ‘Ye Harte & Garter’ opposite Windsor Castle has roped us in to do a Saturday special of tandori chicken, vindaloos and spicy curries for the influx of visitors he expects.
So Saturday dawned and all the air around Windsor was permeated with exotic smells of Indian cuisine as the Medge brothers cooked up a veritable epicurean monsoon. You’ve now seen the photos of the wedding. Sadly neither Charles chose not to wear his turban nor Camilla her sari but it was a great day. Not only for the Prince and his bride but Charlie Ferguson now of Maida Vale who was there on the day ensuring that the Medge brothers were serving their curries on his now priceless imported china bearing the legend “Charles and Camilla 8th April 2005.”
The principal beneficiaries of these change of plans were the vendors of wedding memorabilia, caterers, airlines and suit hire firms. Those t-shirts, tea towels and commemorative mugs all emblazoned with the wedding date “8th April 2005” suddenly became collectors’ items.
I remember my mother allowing me on special occasions like my birthday or Christmas day to have my porridge out of a bowl which proclaimed the coronation of Edward VII - an event which never took place. Yes things were bad in those days. We did have to eat porridge on Christmas day. But as a special treat I sometimes got four or five muscatels in the mix. On ordinary days I used to taunt my mother “Mum, can I have my porridge out of ‘the King who never was plate’ today?” This was in pre non smacking times and I’d get a quick clip about the ears. “No you can’t. This is a very valuable plate”.
Well, out in circulation now are thousands of very valuable “Charles and Camilla April 8th 2005” wrong date mugs and plates. Early last week the sales of wedding memorabilia had been extremely slow. But as soon as the wedding date was changed all hell broke loose. I spoke with Charlie Ferguson who’s had a stall down in Notting hill’s Portobello Road for twenty years. I met him last year at his stand one Saturday morning. His stall specialises in old second-hand 78 and LP records like Bing Crosby, The Ink Spots, Gracie Fields, the Seekers together with the greatest assortment of the strangest junk you’ve ever seen. Not that Bing Crosby’s crooning was junk, but you get my drift. “What’s with the Charles and Camilla mugs and the tea towels Charlie?” “Well originally I bought up a special line of mugs and plates from Taiwan. Sales were very slow. Then Saturday a week ago they changed the wedding date. The sales took off. I sent an email to my supplier in Taiwan. “Send me three containers of those same mugs and plates you sent earlier. Airfreight.” I sold the lot within 24 hours. All this came about as a result of the Pope’s death. Now I’m not a religious man but I’m seriously thinking of turning a Catholic. I’ve made a fortune. Next time you come to see me I’ll have moved out of those old run down digs in Braddiston Road, West Kilburn and gone upmarket somewhere in Maida Vale. It’s an ill wind that blows somebody good.” Whilst Charlie Ferguson stallholder, Portobello Road made a fortune out of the change of date spare a thought for Ranahunate Medge one of Bombay’s lunch box deliverymen. He’s the president of Bombay’s Dabbawallahs Association. They’re the people who everyday for the last 104 years have transported 200,000 lunches from private homes to offices in Bombay central business district using an intricate system of colour coding to ensure the meals go to the right place. Last month the Dabbawallahs sent wedding gifts. A sari and bangles for Mrs Parker-Bowles and a turban for Prince Charles. As a result the Association of Dabbawallahs received an invitation from the British High Commission in Bombay for two officials to attend the wedding. “We’ve got our visas and prepared to leave” said Mr Medge adding that air tickets and a two day hotel stay had been arranged. But now the dates been changed we’ve got to re-arrange the delivery of 200,000 meals in Bombay next Sunday. This extra day we are away could cost us thousands of rupees. But no worry the owner of ‘Ye Harte & Garter’ opposite Windsor Castle has roped us in to do a Saturday special of tandori chicken, vindaloos and spicy curries for the influx of visitors he expects.
So Saturday dawned and all the air around Windsor was permeated with exotic smells of Indian cuisine as the Medge brothers cooked up a veritable epicurean monsoon. You’ve now seen the photos of the wedding. Sadly neither Charles chose not to wear his turban nor Camilla her sari but it was a great day. Not only for the Prince and his bride but Charlie Ferguson now of Maida Vale who was there on the day ensuring that the Medge brothers were serving their curries on his now priceless imported china bearing the legend “Charles and Camilla 8th April 2005.”
posted by Lundon at 2:03 PM
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