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Wedding souvenirs ridicule royals

LONDON -- Fancy a royal wedding condom? Or a commemorative sickbag?

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has spawned a slew of inappropriate souvenirs.

For those who wouldn't dare touch anything that hadn't personally been approved by the couple, the Royal Collection sells handmade tankards, plates and pill boxes in English fine bone china, complete with the couple's entwined initials in gold and silver.

But online and in stores, entrepreneurs are cashing in on the inevitable popular backlash against royal wedding mania.

Most infamous are the royal wedding-themed condoms. William and Kate ashtrays allow smokers to rub their butts out in the face of the royal couple.

Then there are the William and Kate barf bags, made by Newcastle-based designer Lydia Leith. They feature a picture of the couple under the words "Throne Up."

Leith, 24, said she wanted to go about "poking fun at a social occasion from one side or another."

"The sick bags aren't specifically political, or at least weren't made as a dig," she said in an e-mail. "I wanted to contribute to the tradition of what I see as a very British humor."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Collection said the royals had no control over the unauthorized souvenirs.

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