I see the Queen has imposed a £50 limit on her family as a Christmas gift budget as she doesn’t want people to think they are being extravagant in these difficult economic times. While I’m unashamedly a royalist, I think she’s missed the point here. If everyone limited their spending to just £50, I wonder how many retailers would go to the wall who rely on people spending money at Christmas. Perhaps this isn’t such a good example to set after all.
What would be much better is if the Queen decreed that her family had to buy their gifts from UK companies, rather than impose a budgetary decision, and the smaller the company the better. Wouldn’t it be marvellous for a small owner managed sheepskin company to suddenly get an order from the Queen for a pair of slippers for Prince Philip, or Prince Harry buys his brother a golf lesson from the course pro at a public course. They could all get some good PR out of this and small businesses need some good PR right now.
On a different note, I wondered what you could buy for someone who has everything for £50. An insulated garage door from Garage Door Direct is probably not going to be on the cards for that sort of budget, nor a full set of cutlery from William Turner. Perhaps a grapefruit spoon or two maybe? I’m sure the order’s in the post.
