Tea towels get seal of approval

Champagne glasses toasting Britain’s upcoming royal wedding can now be washed up with an official tea towel after Bucking-ham Palace granted approval for a souvenir cloth, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Tankards, plates, spoons and mugs were among the items approved by the royal household to mark the nuptials between Prince William and fiancée Kate Middleton on April 29.

Tea towels were left off the original approval list of commemorative items as officials deemed them too “disposable,” the paper said.

The official tea towel will be plain white, made from linen and feature the couple’s initials entwined on a background of the prince’s coronet, according to the Telegraph newspaper.

As a gesture of goodwill amid deep public spending cuts, the royal household has also decided not to pass on a rise in Britain’s VAT sales tax to 20 per cent from 17.5 per cent, London’s Evening Standard newspaper reported.

British retailers are counting on the wedding to boost sales as austerity measures bite. Retail researchers Verdict have said the royal wedding could give a £620 million ($985 million) boost to the British economy.