Watch CBS News

The royal touch: Robe worn by Prince George sells out in minutes

Major damage feared from hail, tornadoes in Midwest
Severe storms threaten central U.S., and other MoneyWatch headlines 01:06

It's presumably not the robe he'll wear at his coronation, but the casual evening attire worn by the future king of England for his close-to-bedtime meeting with the leader of the free world prompted a slew of orders for the royal wear.

The $40 robe worn by Prince George, who turns three in July, sold out within seven minutes after a photo of his encounter with President Obama went public.

Therefore, what had been called the "Personalised Gingham Trim Blue Robe" is now dubbed "Prince's Personalised Gingham Robe," is available on a pre-order basis from the U.K.-based company, My 1st Years.

"We changed the title after the weekend event," Daniel Price, founder of My 1st Years, told CBS MoneyWatch. "We're sending Charlotte for her birthday in a couple of weeks the matching robe," Price added of the princess of Cambridge, who turns two on May 2.

"We gifted them, but we had no idea they liked it enough to wear it enough with the president," said Price of his company's good fortune.

And, while Americans fought a war to be free of the King of England's tyranny, that doesn't mean U.S. parents don't want to outfit their offspring as little princes and princesses, as half of the demand came from the United States.

Traffic on the My 1st Years website jumped 500 percent from the usual volumes on Saturday, and then increased to 1,000 percent on the usual numbers as Americans woke up to the visual.

"At peak we were selling a gown every second," said Nicole Sacks, the company's marketing director. "Blue is the stand out seller, but pink robes, have also increased by 300 percent as parents are eager for their little princesses to get in on the action."

Other companies have also benefited from the royal touch, including Brooklyn's Aden and Anais, which sells the soft muslin bird-printed swaddling blanket that covered Prince George when he emerged from the hospital.

"What royal baby ever comes out in anything but a white blanket?" Aden and Anais founder Raegan Moya-Jones asked Crain's New York Business. "But it's been a wonderful thing for the business from a brand perspective."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.