A family-run children's clothes shop in Spain has been inundated with orders from around the world for dresses identical to the one worn by Britain's Princess Charlotte in the latest official photos – but has enough cloth to make only 20 of them.
Six-month-old Charlotte, Queen Elizabeth's newest great-grandchild, was pictured wearing the pink smocked dress with ruffled neck in photos taken by her mother Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and released last Sunday.
"The biggest advertising agency in the world couldn't get this response, it's incredible," said Margarita Pato, who realized the princess was wearing one of her designs when she saw the photos in Spain's Hola magazine.
"In Spain interest has soared, but in England it's almost a revolution," added the 62-year-old founder and designer of M&H.
However, the shop is not going to crank up production in response to the overwhelming demand because there are only 10 meters left of the pink floral fabric used in the princess's outfit – enough to make just 20 more dresses.
"I've got a very big problem, I've got a huge waiting list but only 10 meters of that fabric," said a laughing Pato in a telephone interview with Reuters. "We have the dress in other fabrics but not in that one."
Celebrity magazines have speculated that the baby's Spanish nanny may have bought the dress for Charlotte, who is fourth in line to the British throne.
M&H, which stands for 'mother and children' in Spanish, was opened by Pato in 2009 in the central Spanish town of Valladolid. She later opened shops in Madrid, Valencia and Seville.
The shop just makes two models in each size of the designs.
The dress, typical of M&H's traditional baby clothes all made in Spain with Spanish fabrics and yarn, costs 29.90 euros (US$32.58) and Pato says she is not going to put up the price in response to the avalanche of demand.
"I'm not driven by the money," she said. "What I've made from this so far is enough."
