Royal wedding goodie bag sold on eBay for eye-watering 拢21,400
The gift bags were offered to "community champions"聽inside Windsor Castle to watch the Duke and Duchess of Sussex get married.
Thursday 24 May 2018 06:55, UK
A royal wedding goodie bag being sold on eBay has received a winning bid of more than 拢21,000.
The souvenir item was offered to "community champions" invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle to celebrate the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's marriage on Saturday.
One gift bag, auctioned off by an eBay user named ClaireOliver87, was listed as sold on Tuesday evening with a winning bid of £21,400.
According to the website listing, the sale includes the bag itself - featuring the initials of Harry and Meghan - a Windsor Castle bottle of water, a fridge magnet, a chocolate coin, shortbread, a spectator badge and wrist band, a parking sticker, an order of service, a postcard and gift shop card and a map.
The item, which attracted 83 bids, was due to be posted to the anonymous winning bidder next week. But after widespread publicity about the auction, Ms Oliver reportedly said the winning bid was fake and that she had withdrawn the bag from eBay.
Her employer, Troup Bywaters + Anders, said she was not at the royal wedding as a representative of the company nor as a "community champion" for her work with the firm.
A spokesman said: "Her subsequent actions on eBay were during her own spare time, and the decision to do so had nothing whatsoever to do with Troup Bywaters + Anders."
Several other royal wedding gift bags are on sale on eBay, including one which was listed for £50,000.
According to the seller, bidders can "buy a piece of history and memorabilia to celebrate a momentous special day for Britain and the royal family".
"Don't miss out on this limited once in a lifetime opportunity to have a piece of royal history," the seller adds.
Kensington Palace declined to comment on the sale of the gift bags.
Meanwhile, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute said that such transactions are private sales between consumers, and as such are not covered by trading standards.
Harry and Meghan invited 2,640 members of the public to Windsor Castle for their wedding, including 1,200 young people who had served their communities and shown strong leadership.
The gift bags were not offered to the 600 guests inside St George's Chapel which included the likes of George Clooney, David Beckham and Oprah Winfrey.