Windsor’s price for the wedding

August 4th, 2006

Windsor’s price for the wedding

THE FIRST Charles and Camilla souvenirs have gone on sale in Windsor and hotels are charging more than Pounds 1,000 per night for people hoping to catch a glimpse of next month’s royal wedding.

Businesses cashing in include Caleys, Windsor’s smartest department store, which is charging camera crews up to Pounds 5,000 for vantage points at its windows.

Hotels have put a premium on rooms with even a partial view of the route the couple will take from Windsor Castle to the Guildhall, where the marriage ceremony will be held on 8 April.

Most rooms are already booked.

The Castle Hotel is charging a German TV company Pounds 3,000 for its balcony room in front of the wedding venue. Rooms facing the High Street which cost Pounds 130 this week will be charged at Pounds 285. The three-star Ye Harte Garter Hotel is charging Pounds 1,155 a night for rooms facing the Guildhall. The minimum booking is two nights so the cost would be Pounds 2,310.

Reservations manager Janine Steyn admitted: “We have heard people saying these prices are a rip-off, but it is purely business.”

Shopkeeper Gurcharn Singh Dhillon, 45, who is selling tea towels, computer mouse mats and pens bearing the couple’s faces, said: “I have put up the tea towel in my window in case they walk past.

“I have only got a few at Pounds 4.99 now, but I have hundreds more coming in next week.”

(c)2005. Associated Newspapers Ltd.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Entry Filed under: Windsor