Cleaning up: Official royal wedding souvenir tea towel goes on sale at £7.95

For the millions who failed to get an invitation, prepare to dry your tears - and your tea cups. An official tea towel celebrating the marriage of William and Kate has gone on sale.

The Evening Standard has bought one of the first available at the Royal Collection gift shop opposite Buckingham Palace.

It costs £7.95 and is printed in white and "Clarence House blue", with the entwined initials of Catherine and William forming the centrepiece, beneath a crown and ribbon design. C and W are also at the top and bottom.

The Standard reported last month that royal wedding tea towels had not been banned by the Lord Chamberlain, as some claimed. But it bears no photograph of the couple and no full coat of arms.

People in London were split over the design. Law student Jessica Hocking, 21, said: "It feels awful and I wouldn't buy it if my life depended on it. It'd be better if it had a picture or bright colours. It is truly terrible."

Her friend Rose Bailey said: "It's made in the UK at least and I'm sure it will attract the 'put it by the Aga' age range."

Betty Slater, 68, a retired teacher from Vermont, USA, "loved" it: "I like the colours and the feel and the design. I would definitely have paid £7.95 because I've already paid £35 for a Kate and William cup."

It is 100 per cent cotton and marked "Copyright 2011 HM Queen Elizabeth II". The name of the designer is secret. Gift shop staff said it
was selling "very well". A royal spokeswoman added: "It will be produced in line with, and to satisfy, demand."

Also on sale is a £12.95 soft fabric love heart that can be used as a pin cushion or Christmas tree decoration.