Royal wedding gift dilemma for NZ

Prince Charles and Lady Diana walked all over theirs; another royal couple sold theirs off - but Prince William and Kate Middleton will still get an official wedding gift from New Zealanders.

The Herald on Sunday understands Government officials are compiling a shortlist of gift ideas for the April 29 nuptials. But what's on that list is a well-guarded secret, although a honeymoon package to the Rugby World Cup later this year is bound to be in the mix.

For the 1981 wedding of Charles and Di, Kiwis went practical - an all-wool broadloom carpet. A spokesman at the New Zealand High Commission described it at the time as "very handsome" and "textured but not patterned". It is thought the carpet was used at the couple's country home, Highgrove, in Gloucestershire.

That meant it should have got a bit more use than the 1960 gift for the wedding of the late Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, two silver kiwis, which were sold off years later.

A gift from the New Zealand Government is likely to be one of thousands the royal couple receive - in 1981 a worker on the royal staff was delegated to sort through them all.

So knowing royal watchers might be tempted to post a little token off, the Herald on Sunday sought some advice from an expert - Smith and Caughey's gift registry manager in Auckland, Jeanette Russell. She is recommending New Zealand-made items to bring a taste of Kiwi culture to the royal household.

"I'd love to see a New Zealand alpaca throw go into that (house) and some iconic tea-towels. Kiwi culture is lovely and it's a representation of New Zealand," she said.

Russell compiled a list of wedding gifts fit for the newlyweds, ranging in price from mugs at $7.95 each to $2990 for a china dinner set..

They would come in at the smaller end of the price scale for a production that some are tipping to cost about £80 million ($164 million).

Charles' wedding in 1981 cost an estimated £30m, with thousands of police and Armed Forces personnel lining the streets to maintain order as 600,000 people gathered in London to watch.

More details of the ceremony at Westminster Abbey were revealed this week.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will marry the young pair in a ceremony starting at 11am. The day has been declared a national holiday in the United Kingdom.

The newlyweds will emerge from Westminster Abbey to ride in a carriage in a gala procession to Buckingham Palace.

The route, which will take them through the heart of ceremonial London, is expected to be lined with a huge crowd of well-wishers hoping for a glimpse of the royal couple. The carriage will go through Parliament Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade and the Mall.

The ceremony itself will have to be smaller than the Charles-Diana affair - Westminster Abbey holds 2200 people - far fewer than the 3500 who attended the 1981 royal wedding at St Paul's Cathedral.