Prince William to marry girlfriend Kate Middleton

The royal wedding may add 620 million pounds ($995 million) to the U.K. economy as consumers spend more on food and drink and tourism revenue increases, according to Verdict Research, a retail analysis unit of Datamonitor Plc....

The U.K. economy could do with the boost. The Bank of England predicts growth of 1.8 percent this year and 2.6 percent next, according to Bloomberg News calculations, after slumping 5 percent last year....

Historically, the biggest events for the U.K. monarchy since World War II have coincided with tough economic times. After the coronation in 1953, silver-jubilee celebration in 1977 and royal wedding in 1981, the economy expanded more quickly....

Verdict Research said the royal wedding may add 360 million pounds to food and grocery sales as well as a further 216 million pounds to travel and tourism.....

“If, as expected, it is a big set-piece event, it could well capture the nation’s imagination and provide a fillip to the retail sector,” Neil Saunders, Verdict’s consulting director, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Sales of commemorative merchandise might be as much as 26 million pounds, he reckoned.

The U.K.’s monarchy already generates more than 500 million pounds a year in tourism spending, according to research by the state-funded tourism board, VisitBritain.

“The monarchy is a major element of the reason why overseas tourists come to this country,” VisitBritain spokesman Paul Eastham said by telephone. “In a royal wedding year, that figure is going to be massively exceeded.”

Full article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-1 ... boost.html