>>>
stepping out together for their first appearance as an engageded couple.
>> reporter:
william
and indicate akate are very busy with wedding preparations. as you know,
prince william
is a helicopter pilot with the
royal air force
and there's lots of events before christmas.
william
and
kate
made their first public appearance together since the engagement at a fund-raiser for cancer patients. the bride-to-be, expertly navigating an icy walkway in towering heels. while preparations for the wedding continue at a fevered pitch. the china commemorating the event is on sale.
>>
this has been commissioned by the
royal household
and it has been approved by the royal couple themselves.
>> reporter:
three pieces of handmade english fine
bone china
trimmed with 22 caret gold and embossed with the initials w for
william
and c for katherine. every piece is -- they have been using the same methods to make pottery or 250 years.
>>
the china itself has been hand poured, it's been guilded using 22 caret gold again by hand. and all the design has been done with a view to the royal couple.
>> reporter:
the china is on sale on the
royal collection
website as well as tourist locations and it isn't cheap. a
pill box
for $38, something the designers call a tankard for $55 and the plates for $62. the proceeds go to maintaining the queen's vast
art collection
. at more than $50 each, most people probably won't drink out of these cups. they should because right after the first dip, still on the edge, two little doves sitting on a
wedding ring
. the bakers here in london seem to like the design even if they're not running out placing orders.
>>
i love the doves.
>> reporter:
the doves, it's clear, are a real crowd pleaser. banning images of the couple being used on tea towels, biscuit tins and t-shirts. the palace spokeswoman says for enthusiasts willing to spend the money, that's exactly what they'll get. he was in germany being honored for his own
charity work
. he told the german newspaper said she was absolutely thrilled with the engagement, saying he always wanted a sister.
>>
christopher, welcome back. i have to know what you think of the royal china.
>>
i love the doves.
>>
when the engagement was announced a month ago, you sat down and spent four weeks slaving away at a book, since this has been in the works for a while, so has the book.
>>
i have been working on this story for about 30 years, covering the royals, three bick bicks, -- books. my sources told me a year ago that they would be married in the spring of
2011
, and count on it, even though the palace was saying it won't happen any time soon. so i got to cracking on this book and i've been working on it now for about a year.
>>
64% in a recent poll, 64% of people in the uk said they would like prince water vapor imagery and
kate
to be next in line to the thrown. and what you basically suggest in the book is that there is a possibility that the queen is considers abdictating in order to get williams and catherine to the throne sooner.
>>
for the first time, the queen is considering stepping aside.
>>
what would the reason be?
>>
because of the situation she's in. she's already the oldest monarch. victoria was three years younger when she died. if the queen lives as long as her mother, she'll be 101. charles will be almost 80 years old when he takes over. after that,
william
will be 60 years old.
>>
on a scale to one to ten, where is this?
>>
in my opinion, it's a ten and they have to deal with it. the men in gray, as diana calls it, the people who really run
buckingham palace
, everyone assumed that she thought she would stay there until she died but she can't because the monarchy wouldn't benefit.
>>
when would she make some kind of decision like this?
>>
the money would be on her 90th birthday, certainly after her
diamond jubilee
in
2012
. not any time really soon.
>>
you speak of
william
and
kate
in scotland where they met in college, as someone who has covered this for 30 years, this type of situation, do you think that
kate
is going to be subjectsubject ed or has already been subjected to the same level of scrutiny that
princess diana
had?
>>
you got to remember that this recurring nightmare that
william
has had that frankly
kate
would meet the same fate as his mother. he's had to deal with that kind of media attention. the british say, you know,
kate middleton
has never put a foot wrong, she has done everything right. there's been no embarrassing intercepted telephone calls there,'s been no hint of her cheating on
william
. she's never even frowned at the paparazzi, when they have been hounding her. she really is a pro at this already. so i think she's going to do very, very well.
>>
this is a modern couple, they announced their engagement using twitter. where do you think they'll take the
royal family
.
>>
into the
21st century
. they take about this being the first wedding of the
21st century
, but this is the epic
love story
of the 21
1st century
. diasky diana made sure that her kids went to the movies and to the park it.
kate
is descended from
coal miners
, her mother was a stewardess so she knows what it's like to deal with the
real world
in a way that no other queen of england as known.
>>
it's 49 after the hour,
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