Royal wedding frenzy hits Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. — The royal wedding is just days away and although Central Florida is on the other side of the pond, that's not stopping residents from prepping for the big day.

The British Shoppe on Mills Avenue in Orlando has just about sold out of its royal wedding-themed merchandise.

The store, which opened in 1981 but has been in the Orlando location for about 10 years, sells British teas, food and souvenirs.

Owner Jon Hanson said royal wedding fever has hit residents hard and much of his clientele is looking forward to watching Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot.

“Nearly 100 people were in this morning. They talk about how their kids are coming over and they’re going to have a sleepover party with clotted cream and scones,” Hanson said.

Hanson said it didn’t take long for any product with the couple's face to sell out.

“Three or four days and most of the stuff we had was gone,” he said. “We had a couple thousand dollars worth of product. I sell a lot of royal stuff. Everyone loves the queen.”

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All that was left were tin tea canisters showing off the soon-to-be newlyweds.

Hanson said that, while Americans have always been fascinated by British royalty, this wedding is bringing a lot of additional hype because Markle is American.

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“I didn’t expect it to be as big as it was. The last week has been pretty crazy. With William and Kate, it wasn’t as big, to be honest. I guess it’s more because she (Meghan) is going to be an American princess,” Hanson said. “She’s lovely. She’s quite cool. She’s different, she’s smart and she wants to do things her own way.”

Cox Media Group