When she was six months into her pregnancy, Kate Middleton was spotted at the luxurious nursery furniture shop Blue Almonds in London's South Kensington.Three months on, the world is waiting with bated breath, the royal family is anxiously "waiting for the phone call" – as Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall revealed on Thursday – and photographers, journalists and television crews are stationed outside the private Lindo Wing where Kate is scheduled to give birth to her first child.
As royal baby fever reaches its peak, HELLO! Online speaks exclusively to the owner of Blue Almonds, Izabela Minkiewicz, about The Royal Collection – a limited edition luxe line of nursery furniture and accessories designed specifically with the royal baby in mind.
Izabela explains the beginnings of the luxury line: "The moment the pregnancy had been announced we started thinking what would the best way be part of it, to pay tribute and commemorate the whole occasion. "We're extremely excited that we’re living a very historic moment of the potential monarch being born. The whole world will be watching every step of this child right from the cradle to the throne, and being part of it is very exciting."
Izabela will be especially excited as it was in her boutique that Kate bought one of the most special items for her baby's room.
The photographs of the Duchess and her mother Carole leaving the shop sparked a huge increase in sales of the basket, in what the owner of one of the most exclusive nursery furniture stores in the country, Blue Almonds, said was a "revival of the Moses basket".With an "heir to the British throne coming", Izabela decided on the "elegant and timeless yet sparkly and glam" Royal Collection.
It comes complete with the finest of materials and fabrics and attention to detail culminating in silver cord embroidery on fine linen, sparkling crystal and silk chandelier as well as the trademark silver piping on furniture panels, which is "very simple but elegant".The nursery fit for royalty comes in chic tones of neutral whites, greys and silver. The owner, whose own son was born on 12 July, just one day before Kate's expected due date, says that this is in keeping with Kate's decision not to reveal the baby’s gender.
"The fact that she did not want to reveal the gender of the baby dictates for us the idea to keep it neutral. The white silver reflects the neutrality… in our own interpretation of what we think would be for the royal baby. "The process of buying items for your baby is a personal process, Izabela says, which at Blue Almonds they take seriously, "getting to know their clients, their particular taste and demands."