Maybe not everyone likes cake. Crown Carveries commissioned this roast dinner arranged in the image of Prince William and Kate Middleton, with turkey for the couple's skin, gravy for Middleton's engagement ring, and carrots for her clothing. Martin Gosling, retail operations director for Crown Carveries, said: “The menu choice for the big day has sparked much debate and as Crown Carveries is the most regal carvery brand in the U.K. we wanted to produce the first official ‘fork-trait’ using all the majestic ingredients found on one of our princely banquets–a roast with all the trimmings–to give the happy couple a tasteful memento of their special day.”
Courtesy of Crown Carveries / Facebook
If the “fork-trait” doesn't agree with you, you can grab one of these royal wedding sick bags. The screen printed bags made by designer Lydia Leith come in blue and red and sell for £3 ($4.70) each. Leith apparently expects the marital festivities to be quite nauseating, hence her imprinted instructions to “Keep this handy on April 29th 2011.”
Lydia Leith / AP Photo
Sold! The Braewell Galleries sold Laetitia Guilbaud's painting of Kate Middleton for £1,200, some of which will go toward charities of the royal couple’s choosing. The belly button ring prominently displayed in Guilbaud’s work of Middleton has deep meaning. She explained to The Daily Mail that “it is meant to symbolize that she will, in effect, be part of the Royal stud - expected to produce an heir to the throne just like Diana, hence the use of her sapphire.”
© Laetitia Guilbaud, Courtesy of Braewell Galleries
Royal wedding madness spread to San Francisco, where Steven Backman made a portrait of the couple out of toothpicks. Backman, who has been creating toothpick art for nearly 40 years, made this royal portrait out of 137 toothpicks and glue. It took him three weeks, “but it was a labor of love,” he explained.
Steven J. Backman / REX USA
If you doubt that these colorful splatters convey Will and Kate’s union, artist Greg Herzog can explain it to you—using his trademarked Color Coding DNA. On his website, Herzog says he uses a “geometric mathematical equation, where X# of points represent the makeup of a subject and each degree of expression within the context of each point is color coded and weighted accordingly.” So Kate is an “opinionated” light blue while Will's “good judgment” is a slightly darker blue. Can you see it now?
Courtesy of Greg Herzog
For those who can't wait for the royal wedding, Bluewater Productions has a comic book version called Fame: The Royals, detailing the hypothetical ins and outs of the April 29 affair. The story will cover the royal engagement, royal wedding planning, what Kate might wear to the wedding and where the couple might honeymoon. Bluewater Productions publisher Darren G. Davis recently told People magazine that “just like Diana and Charles did a generation ago, William and Kate plug into the whole fantasy fairy tale motif that we wish our everyday lives could be."
Courtesy of Bluewater Productions
If you were looking for a gargantuan picture of Will and Kate, but were holding back because you couldn't find one that weighed several hundred pounds or refrigerated your food, then GE has just the thing for you. GDHA, a distributer for GE appliances in the UK, is selling a six-foot tall refrigerator featuring giant images of Will and Kate. “As expected, the royal wedding has really captured the U.K.’s imagination and it was no surprise that a William and Kate commemorative fridge was a popular choice,” David Garden, Commercial Director for GE at GDHA, told Today. “It certainly wipes the floor with your usual commemorative tea towels and mugs and is most definitely one of the most novel royal wedding products we have seen."
If standing back and watching Will and Kate's marriage on TV isn’t close enough for you, you can put on Kate's ring and stand arm-in-arm with Prince William—or a replica of the ring and a wax sculpture of the prince, anyway. Artist Jennifer Rubell made a lifelike wax version of William in the now-famous pose featured in his engagement photo with Kate Middleton. Rubell tells The Daily Beast about taking inspiration from the photograph in Us Weekly: “I just kept looking at that photo—it’s so striking how he’s occupying his own space and how she’s holding onto him. I couldn’t get that image out of my head. It’s that Cinderella/Prince Charming fantasy. You can’t help but think of yourself in Kate’s role.”
Photography courtesy Stephen White Images © the artist and courtesy of the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery
Kate Middleton is going punk. British graffiti artist Rich Simmons, 24, caused quite a stir with his Banksy-esque mural of the royal couple-to-be as punk icons Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. The mural depicts the couple wearing matching leather jackets—with the typically elegant Kate sporting a miniskirt and leopard-print cardigan while smoking a cigarette and William wearing ripped jeans and a dog collar around his neck. Simmons reportedly spent 50 hours creating the stencils for the piece and another five hours spray painting it onto an official graffiti wall. “Hopefully they will like it. I wanted to do something that would make William and Kate accessible,” Simmons told The Daily Mail. “They are the modern breed of royals and they're not like the others, they are more down to earth - they're not the snooty types.” Simmons also offered a similarly styled spray paint creation of the queen giving her salute to the couple (inset).
Getty Images
Perhaps the best part of waking up is Will and Kate in your cup. The couple’s adorable mugs have graced everything from hand towels to teacups, and, believe it or not, coffee. Paul Whitehead, manager and barista at Jika Jika in Bath, Somerset, created a pair of matching coffee portraits using roast ingredients for his entry in the U.K. Barista Championships (part of the International Food and Drink Exhibition).
Matt Faber / AP Photo
In a stellar display of their geek appeal, yet another graphic novel entitled Kate and William: A Very Public Love Affair is hitting shelves in April. A Very Public Love Affair will be published in two editions: the first will follow William’s life from boarding school to the Royal Air Force, while the second will trace Kate coming to terms with her royal paramour. The two halves will be joined in a bound edition that not only serves as a flipbook, but will also feature a fictionalized version of the royal wedding. “The couple make a good looking comic book superhero and heroine,” says the graphic novel’s artist Mike Collins.
AP Photo
These royal wedding nail decals depict a miniaturized version of the lovey-dovey couple’s wedding photo. Unfortunately, they are not available online and can only be purchased at local Westminster souvenir shops in anticipation of the couple’s April 29 nuptials. But it’s a small price to pay to have Will and Kate lovingly staring back at you every time you glance down at your hands.
Jeff Moore / Splash News via Newscom
Want to dress up the royal couple at your will? This 32-page paperback book, titled William and Kate Paper Dolls, is available for a bargain price of $9.99. Authored by Tom Tierney and released by Dover Publishing, the commemorative edition features paper dolls of the royal couple as well as a wardrobe of seven beautiful costumes each, including William’s Royal Air Force uniform and several of Kate’s gorgeous dresses. As an added bonus, the book also includes information on how to download the couple’s bridal attire online.
Here’s a grandpa getting creative with his stamp collection. Artist Peter Mason has crafted a portrait of Prince William and his royal bride-to-be made from 3,000 postage stamps, each of which features the head of the Queen Mum. It took Mason two weeks to create the work of art and its design mimics the legendary rose window from Westminster Abbey, where the marriage is to take place. “I’d see myself as more of a royalist than a Cromwellian I suppose, and of course I’m angling for knighthood as well,” Mason, a grandfather of two, joked to the Express & Star. The artwork will go on display in The Art Gallery in Gloucestershire, walking distance from Prince Charles’ luxurious Highgrove estate.
Nick Wilkinson / Landov
Not only has the royal bride-to-be assumed the identity of Sid Vicious’ wild lover Nancy Spungen, but Middleton is also a monarch herself in a reworking of the iconic cover art to the Sex Pistols’ 1977 single “God Save The Queen.” The portrait features the words “God Save the Future Queen” atop and below Middleton’s face, framed by a tiara and cropped ‘do. Artist Zoobs—whose real name is Zoran Zarre—created the work as a tribute to Middleton. It is currently on display at the Opera Gallery in London’s West End.
Samir Hussein / AP Photo
As part of the Ideal Home Show cake competition, Michelle Wibowo of Burgess Hill, West Sussex spent 80 hours sculpting a fruitcake into busts of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The pastry is covered with apricot jam, 22 lbs. of marzipan, and 22 lbs. of icing. It was airbrushed to make the royal couple’s features look more realistic and served as the centerpiece of the royal-themed wedding cake competition at the Ideal Home Show in West London. Though it wasn’t Wibowo’s cake, Kate and Will did end up choosing a fruitcake (along with a second chocolate biscuit cake) for their wedding, presumably without their faces on it.
Carl Court / AFP / Getty Images
