Kate Middleton and Prince William

And so the frenzied speculation about who will make the next royal wedding dress — and reap profits from it — begins. Today’s official announcement of Prince William’s engagement to Kate Middleton may have romance novelists swooning and traffic cops in a frenzy, but British fashion designers have pound signs in their eyes and ka-chings in their ears (Ms Middleton has to wear British, after all).

I mean, if Robinson Valentine received a notable publicity bump after designing Camilla Parker Bowles’ wedding coat for her “mature” nuptials to Prince Charles, how much more lucrative will the commission be to dress the young and comely Ms Middleton’s?

Diana, Princess of Wales

Sure, the last designer to do such a hotly anticipated gown, Elizabeth Emmanuel, of Princess Diana meringue fame, eventually went bankrupt, but before that — wow, the notoriety! Think it’s a coincidence she re-launched during London Fashion Week last September?

The vultures are already circling. I just received the following email:

“What will Kate and William’s big day look like? How will Kate choose ‘that dress’? Public or private? Classic or contemporary? How do young modern royals do it theirway?

Miranda Eason, Editor of the UK’s top wedding magazines – You & Your Wedding and Cosmopolitan Bride –  is available for interviews, following the news of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement.”

Kate Middleton wearing Issa

Speculation actually started last week, about The Dress and who would make it, with the Daily Mail putting their bets on Issa, the hot-DVF-like line oft-times favoured by Ms Middleton, who last week wore a custom-made Issa to the wedding of Prince William’s friend Harry Meade. Personally. I think the Princess-to-be might look at Alice Temperley, an almost-peer, whose current collection is inspired by that other English queen, Guinevere.

And that’s just the tip of the fashion industry’s potential money-making iceberg. There’s the Prince to dress, of course (will he opt for his Dad’s favourite Savile Row bespoke, Ede and Ravescroft?), not to mention all the page boys and girls (a good choice would be Marie-Chantal, the posh kids line designed by the London-based wife of Prince Pavlos of Greece?).

Dress by Temperley London

The opportunity to spread the wealth around the UK design community is terrific. No wonder David Cameron is rubbing his hands: not only will this fairy tale help ease the psychological pain of all those austerity measures (what a distraction!), but it will pump some money into an industry just when it needs it most.

As for the prince and his bride, what a wonderful chance to position themselves as sensitive and doing their part to counteract the general pain in the British economy. Just think of the tourism possibilities, the foreign royals filling the fancy hotels, the souvenir china and postcards, the events that require a new wardrobe, the high street copies of said wardrobes, and the broadcasting rights! Nothing pumps money into the national treasury like a glamorous Windsor marriage. What designer is your money on?