He says that’s resulted in a new style of royal souvenir that breaks with the traditional repertoire of the past.

Charles & Diana

A postcard of a commemorative stamp celebrating the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 is displayed outside a philatelists in London

The first major royal event that really showed this shift, he says, was the wedding of Prince Charles to Diana.

"Certainly for 1981 with Charles and Di the latest thing was a tea towel," explained Opie, "and there are quite a few different examples and the other for that particular moment was the annoying Rubik’s Cube, which only children seemed to be able to do and that was the latest innovations, so of course they did a royal one for that."

That wedding also marked a shift in the real lives of the royal family, says publicist Richard Fitzwilliams, an expert on the royal family.

He says Diana, through both her life and death, brought the royal family closer to the British public and especially to young people.

William & Kate

Fitzwilliams says Prince William and Kate Middleton are the perfect couple to bring that mantle forward.

"I would say William and Catherine are the perfect team to take the monarchy into the new century because there is no doubt they are so responsive to public feeling," the publicist said. "They are tremendously popular. And you can see in the walkabouts and the official duties they’ve performed so far how at ease they are with people."