Study Reveals Most in Demand Royal Memorabilia

Society 24 May 2022 By

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving British monarch in history, is the first Royal to reach the Platinum Jubilee landmark. Between 2nd–5th June, the bank holiday weekend is much cause for celebration, evident with £282 million spent on Platinum Jubilee merchandise. The British public’s favourite type of merchandise is the mug, with 16 million sold for the Platinum Jubilee.

Collecting Royal memorabilia has been a British tradition for hundreds of years, which is why Middletons Mobilityhas undertaken a study surrounding the most famous Royal memorabilia. Collectables have the potential to increase the most in their value and the most famous Royal events to date.

  • The British public’s favourite type of merchandise is the mug, with 16 million sold for the Platinum Jubilee.
  • The Platinum Jubilee is expected to be the most popular event for Royal memorabilia.
  • The Platinum Jubilee memorabilia has cost £113 million more than the second most expensive Royal occasion, Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding.

Platinum Jubilee set to become the ‘Most Popular Royal Event’

£282 million has been spent on Platinum Jubilee merchandise, according to the Centre of Retail Research, meaning The Platinum Jubilee is £113 million more than the second most expensive Royal occasion. Charles and Diana’s 1981 wedding is still a close second after over 40 years, with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 in third.

Memorabilia with Royal resale value

For those looking to make a profit on their Royal memorabilia, certain items have increased in price dramatically since they were first sold. The item with the highest resale value is the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation plate, which is reselling for £559.90.

Second place is also an item from the same event, the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation mug, unsurprising as mugs are the most popular collectable item. The third best investment is that of glasses sold for the Golden Jubilee, reselling at £165. With money to be made, this will likely reflect upon the projected resale value of Platinum Jubilee merchandise, as this is an even rarer occasion for a monarch.

For those looking for items to avoid, biscuit tins are shown to have the lowest resale value at £47.

Nation’s favourite coronation collectables

A study has shown that the public will purchase more than 6 million mugs and 10 million flags, meaning the Platinum Jubilee will sell more Royal memorabilia than any other Royal event.

Research Middletons also revealed that the British public’s favourite type of Royal merchandise is the mug. The Silver Jubilee mug has topped the lot, closely followed by the Platinum Jubilee mug and third place to Charles and Diana’s wedding mug.

The second most desirable collectable is Royal plates. The Platinum Jubilee and Charles and Diana wedding plates are the most popular, with an average of 150 searches based on this data.

The UK public regard bone china memorabilia as the third most popular collectable. William and Kate’s wedding bone China topped the lot with 240 average monthly searches.

The above depicts the top three most popular bone China pieces of Royal memorabilia. Although the Diamond Jubilee Royal Bone China averages 20 searches per month, this could be the most valuable piece of collectable bone china from any Royal event. Some are sold at prices as high as £139.99 per piece.

Methodology

Compared search data analysing the most popular Royal Memorabilia. This spanned from the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation to the upcoming Platinum Jubilee in 2022. By looking at the average monthly search volume and taking a comparative approach in terms of the resale value of each collectable item, we were able to discover the most famous Royal memorabilia from each occasion and the items with the highest potential resale value. This allowed us to briefly analyse the most popular memorabilia from Royal occasions and the potential for the highest level of financial investment for collectors and fanatics alike. The following factors were considered within this study:

  • The most famous Royal events based on search data
  • The highest potential price Royal Memorabilia can be resold for
  • The most famous Royal Memorabilia collectables
  • The Royal Memorabilia pieces with the lowest resale value

Data acquired from Google search and trend results revealed: 

  • Mugs most searched for Royal memorabilia followed by plates, then China
  • Most popular memorabilia is Platinum Jubilee, followed by Charles and Diana, Silver Jubilee
  • Most searched plates – Platinum Jubilee and Charles and Diana’s wedding
  • Most searched China – William and Kate Wedding bone China
  • Most searched mugs – Silver Jubilee
  • Most searched biscuit tin – Platinum Jubilee
  • Most searched tea towel – Platinum Jubilee
  • Most searched for glasses – Silver Jubilee and Charles and Diana’s wedding
  • Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Plate Highest Resale value in 2022