I have always liked the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall so I’m happy to note that today marks their tenth wedding anniversary.

In 2005 I sent them my best wishes for a long and happy marriage and today I repeat and renew that greeting in this blog post, in a card I mailed to them and some new additions to my china collection.

To me their marriage and continued happiness is an example of triumph over adversity. To me, it’s a reminder that life can, and does, get better and I thought it would be an vice idea to buy some china that commemorates their 2005 wedding.

Earlier this year I decided that Aynsley’s four-piece collection which is made of bone china with 22 carat gold detailing was the best choice. I think it’s the most dignified, tasteful and attractive option.

A lot of royal commemorative china is just straight-up tacky. But these four pieces – which form a complete set – will be a grand addition to my collection.

This set includes: a tankard, a commemorative plate, a twin-handled “loving cup” and a small pin dish and I look forward to the day when I can prominently display the complete collection in one of my china cabinets.

The set lists April 8 as the wedding date. Initially they were supposed to get married on April 8 but on April 4, 2005 they postponed the wedding until April 9 so that the Prince of Wales could attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

In recent months I’ve purchased three of the four items. Unfortunately someone outbid me by £0.50 on the pin dish and I haven’t seen another surface on eBay since. The loving cup was sent directly from the eBay merchant to my address here in Burnaby.

To save on shipping I had the plate and tankard sent to my friend Geordie who lives with his awesome Lady Friend in some borough of London that I’ve never heard of. Geordie’s kindly agreed to mail them to me the china at a future date. In the meantime he’s supplied me with some lovely pictures of the items.