Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Australian royal memorabilia collector recalls her crowning piece: meeting the king

Published 16/09/2022, 02:03
Updated 16/09/2022, 18:34
© Reuters. Australia's largest British royal memorabilia collector Jan Hugo stands near her collection holding the tea-towel she held when she met Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla when they toured Sydney in 2015, in Nulkaba, Australia September 15, 2022.

© Reuters. Australia's largest British royal memorabilia collector Jan Hugo stands near her collection holding the tea-towel she held when she met Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla when they toured Sydney in 2015, in Nulkaba, Australia September 15, 2022.

By Stefica Nicol Bikes

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Surrounded by tens of thousands of pieces of British royal memorabilia in her home in rural Australia, Jan Hugo now has one more thing to boast about: meeting the man who is now King Charles.

Starting in 1981 with a commemorative coin of then-Prince Charles' wedding to his first wife, Diana, the 64-year-old's collection has since grown to include over 10,000 pieces of crockery, coasters, and figurines that takes up several rooms in her home in Nulkaba, a town about 150 km (93 miles) northwest of Sydney.

One item, a tea towel bearing the likeness of Charles and Camilla, now the Queen Consort, landed Hugo a conversation with the royal couple when they toured Australia in 2015.

"Oh, the thrill of my life. Not many people can actually say that they have met now the king and queen of England," she said about the encounter in Sydney, where she held the tea towel up to attract the couple's attention.

"Camilla walked out first, looked up and went 'Oh my goodness, I'm on the tea towel.' So she came straight to me and we had a lovely chat," Hugo told Reuters on Thursday.

"Then Charles came along and I had a red shirt that I had taken the sleeves out and put Union Jack flags in for the sleeves. So he came along and gave me a rub on the shoulder."

Having celebrated the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in June, Hugo was sad to learn about the monarch's death.

"There's just so many things, you can't single out one thing about her... she was just an amazing woman," she said.

© Reuters. Australia's largest British royal memorabilia collector Jan Hugo stands near her collection holding the tea-towel she held when she met Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla when they toured Sydney in 2015, in Nulkaba, Australia September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Stefica Nicol Bikes

With King Charles on the throne and William assuming the title of Prince of Wales, more memorabilia is on the way.

"So I need a whole new castle, not just another room to put it in but I think I'm up for a castle now," Hugo said.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.