Donegal-based toy company Arklu are celebrating their royal roots this week with the launch of a Royal Flower Girl Doll.
The royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has inspired Arklu to design a new Lottie doll, after Princess Charlotte.
With Princess Charlotte named amongst the bridal party to lead Meghan Markle in St Georges Chapel this Saturday, it was only fitting that the Lottie brand marks the occasion with a limited edition toy.
Royal Flower Girl Lottie wears a traditional satin Flower Girl dress with pumps and comes with her very own posy to carry up the aisle.
The pack also includes a piece of artwork as designed by an ‘Inspired by Real Kids’ competition winner, in the form of a wedding card.
The collectible dolls are available to pre-order online now at https://bit.ly/2L7sx3A
Royal Flower Girl Lottie – lottie.com
This special launch is in celebration of the royal roots of Arklu, which was set up by Donegal businessman Ian Harkin. Arklu’s first creation was a collection of limited edition dolls celebrating the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.
The company developed an engagement doll of Kate and followed it up several months later with a double wedding pack of William and Kate. The company voluntarily donated £1 from the sale of each wedding doll to the RNLI.
Arklu Royal Wedding Dolls
The company then evolved to develop its own brand of dolls after 18 months of research, researching with child psychologists, play experts, body image experts, parents and kids they launched Lottie in August 2012.
In fact, Arklu’s ‘Lottie’ dolls were named after Charlotte many years before she was born. After a process of elimination on William’s family tree they worked out that the first daughter of the newly wedded Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would very possibly be named ‘Charlotte’ – and in recognition of the company’s royal origins they choose the abbreviated name Lottie.
Royal Flower Girl Lottie – lottie.com
In May 2016, The Prince of Wales visited the offices of Arklu in Donegal where he was presented with the original Royal dolls and a selection of Lottie dolls for his grandchildren. The gifts were mentioned on the official gift list issued in January 2017.
The new Royal Flower Girl Lottie carries the motto “Be bold, be brave, be you!” which is themed around the brand’s ethos of diversity and individuality.
What makes Lottie unique apart from her height of 18cm/7.5″ is that she is based on a 9-year-old child. With over 1m dolls sold to date and currently selling in over 30 countries worldwide the dolls are empowering girls and boys all over the world. From Robot Makers to Fossil Hunters, Stargazers to Ballet Dancers the dolls focus on childhood and encourage kids to be themselves.
All Lottie dolls are now inspired by ideas sent to them by real kids through their monthly competition. One of the dolls even accompanied Tim Peake on his mission to the International Space Station, with the purpose of developing girls’ interests in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. Two of the kids that have inspired Lottie dolls to date were named by Teen Vogue in 2017 as 21 under 21.
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