威廉王子大婚紀念品開售

Britain's royal wedding is still four months away, but the first official memorabilia went on sale Monday - a range of wedding china personally approved by the couple.

Prince William's office said the items had been commissioned by the palace department responsible for the royal family's art collection and made in Stoke-on-Trent in central England, a traditional center for British ceramics.

The three souvenirs - a tankard, plate and pill box - each feature the couple's entwined initials, the prince's coronet emblem and the date of the wedding - April 29, 2011.

On sale at royal palaces and a website, profits from the collectables will be donated to the charity which curates the royal family's artworks, known as the Royal Collection.

"The Royal Collection has been working on the design since around the time of the engagement - it's a very fast moving process," William's office said in a statement.

His office said that the prince and his future bride had both approved the wedding merchandise.

William and Kate Middleton made her first public appearance on Saturday since announcing their engagement, attending a cancer charity fundraising event in eastern England.

The couple are to be married at Westminster Abbey on April 29 after a lengthy courtship.

距離英國威廉王子大婚還有4個月之久，但首批官方紀念品已於本週一開始出售。據悉，這套婚禮紀念瓷器獲得了威廉王子及未婚妻的個人認可。

威廉王子辦公室表示，這套紀念品由負責收藏皇家藝術品的皇室部門委託製做，並在英格蘭中部素有英國瓷都之稱的特倫特河畔斯托克生產。

首批紀念品有三款瓷器，杯子、盤子和藥盒，均印有威廉和凱特盤繞在一起的名字首字母、威廉王子的皇冠徽章、以及婚期2011年4月29日。

紀念品在皇家宮殿和一家網站出售，所獲利潤將捐贈給負責管理皇家藝術品的慈善機構——皇家珍藏。

威廉王子辦公室在一份聲明中說：“‘皇家珍藏’自威廉王子訂婚前後纔開始設計紀念品，效率非常高。”

辦公室還表示，威廉王子和準王妃都認可了這套結婚紀念品。

上週六，威廉王子攜準王妃凱特•米德爾頓在英格蘭東部參加了一場癌症慈善籌款活動，這是自兩人宣佈訂婚後首次公開亮相。

在相戀多年後，兩人將於明年4月29日在威斯敏斯特教堂舉辦婚禮。

Vocabulary:

coronet: any small crown, esp one worn by princes or peers as a mark of rank（冠冕，寶冠）

curate: select, organize, and look after the items in (a collection or exhibition)（保管藏品，負責藏品保管的人則稱爲curator）