Asda's copy of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' engagement ring. Photograph: Frank Baron
There is an exciting update today on the move by the Asda supermarket chain to sell cut price replicas of Camilla Parker Bowles's engagement ring for £19.
Readers may recall being alerted by Newsblog to the supermarket's plan back in February.
The replicas finally went on sale today and instantly became the chain's fastest selling jewellery item.
A spokesman told the Associated Press that by 11.30am today, 30% of the 2,500 rings had been sold, with interest from as far away as Australia. Asda predicted the replicas would be sold out by the end of the day and a spokesman said "it's looking like royal wedding fever has started early".
(The wedding, of course, will start late, with Clarence House today announcing it will be
delayed by 24 hours from this Friday to Saturday because of the clash of dates with the Pope's funeral).
Mrs Parker Bowles's ring, presented to her by the Prince of Wales, formerly belonged to the late Queen Mother and is made of platinum with a square central diamond and three smaller rectangular diamonds on each side. Its resale value is not known. Alongside the £19 version Asda also promised to sell a significantly more upmarket replica priced at £30,000, made of platinum with expensive diamonds.
One imagines the store will not be expecting to sell 2,500 of these but perhaps it should diversify into other Camilla replica products. Yesterday's New York Times celebrated her style, saying that Mrs Parker Bowles's "simple tailored suits and hunting-jacket-plus-jodhpurs look is that of the quintessential upper-crust British woman".
