Where can I find royal wedding mugs in London?

June 16, 2011 2:01 PM

Where in London can I still find nice-ish but not super expensive Royal Wedding mugs? I need to bring back a few as souvenirs for some family members, but I don't have time to just stop in at every souvenir store in central London.

I know I should have done this, oh, a month and a half ago or thereabouts, but I procrastinated and now I'm leaving London on Sunday (after being here for five months studying abroad) and I need like three Royal Wedding mugs.

I'm looking to pay at most £10 each for these, and I'm looking for as nice and official looking as possible rather than a cheap knockoff with a grainy off-center photo of the Royal Couple. Westminster Abbey doesn't have their version listed on their shop website, and IIRC theirs were quite expensive anyway.

I live in Camden, but I'll definitely be down in the Bloomsbury/Soho/Oxford Street area before I leave town, so any where around those places is easiest for me. I'm willing to go further afield for a reliable source.

I should emphasize that I'm really looking for "I have seen what you're after in an actual store within the last week or two" rather than "Well, try place x maybe?" Unfortunately, I don't have time to chase down leads all over London :(

posted by MadamM to Shopping (10 answers total)

Liberty has some pretty great stuff, but it's not all that kitschy. I would call to see if they still have this stuff, but I can't imagine that they don't.

The British Museum shop mentions a tea towel and mugs, but not online.

Transport Museum has pillows and a very smart mug.

All of these are places I'd want to go, in the course of a trip, anyway.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:27 PM on June 16, 2011

I noticed some in the window of a souvenir shop on the south side of Oxford Street, between Oxf Circus and Tottenham Court Rd (roundabout Berwick Street). Can't speak to how nice-ish they were, though.
posted by dontjumplarry at 2:32 PM on June 16, 2011

Have you considered ordering some online to your foreign (US?) residence? A quick google gives half a dozen places that will still ship one internationally, and frankly, at this point that is likely going to be much easier than traipsing round london looking for a mouldy tourist shop that is still carrying them.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 3:17 PM on June 16, 2011

Hi, I'm just back from London and I had this exact same problem.

I found more than one store selling the things on that Oxford Cirus-To-Picadilly Circus trail. I had no troube finding branded wedding mugs.

They looked pretty official, and discounted.
posted by The Whelk at 3:48 PM on June 16, 2011

Response by poster: Oooh, these are all great. I think I'll head down to Oxford St (Liberty has just the London-y/fancy vibe I'm looking for- these are for my grandma and aunts, after all) and failing that, check out the Transport Museum because they still seem to have them in stock for sure. Thanks!
posted by MadamM at 3:55 PM on June 16, 2011

I was in Liberty on May 21st (or maybe the 22nd) and didn't see those totes or cups. I did see the tea bags though. (If you have time it is an awesome store anyway. I was in there for at least an hour.) But they may have re-stocked.
posted by grapesaresour at 3:57 PM on June 16, 2011

If you really must have that kind of tacky junk, there's a veritable galaxy of garish tourist-traps up at the east end of Oxford St. near Tottenham Court Road station. You'll find your mugs - and lose your soul.

Specifically, there's a shop on your left as soon as you turn left out of the main Oxford St. exit.
posted by Ted Maul at 1:46 AM on June 17, 2011

I was looking at the John Lewis website and they have reduced some of the tongue in cheek commemorative china (Thanks For The Free Day Off) etc - they also stocked the official stuff and it might be worth having a look there. There's a huge one on Oxford St. It's a very British store (think Harrods but for real people with middle-class incomes rather than tourists and wealthy Arabs) and you may spot a few other things worth picking up for friends and family. Liberty is lovely but more higher-end as I remember.

Also try branches of Cards Galore - there's one in Holborn I passed that has decent looking mugs.
posted by mippy at 4:49 AM on June 17, 2011

You can look online before you go...
posted by mippy at 4:50 AM on June 17, 2011

Response by poster: I ended up choosing the least horrifyingly tacky mug at a souvenir shop on Oxford Street. Tough decision, let me tell you, but hopefully my relatives will be pleased. John Lewis (which I should have remembered has a great gift section) had some stuff left, but none with pictures (which I think is what my relatives are looking for) and the official-official "Royal Wedding Tankard" is unreduced at £35, so I skipped it. Thanks for all the help, everyone!
posted by MadamM at 8:35 AM on June 17, 2011