FM to send personalised hats to royal children and make charity donations.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is to send a specially crafted hat made by a Scottish firm to mark the birth of Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.
A specially designed hat will also be sent to Prince George to celebrate him becoming a big brother.
A charitable donation of £50,000 will be split equally between Cash for Kids in Scotland and Turning Point Scotland in the Princess’ name to further mark her arrival.
The specially designed bobble hats will be crafted by Wonky Woolies, a Glasgow-based bespoke bobble hat maker founded and owned by Alison Burn.
The company has made custom headwear for two Scottish bands – Biffy Clyro and Frightened Rabbit – and has had its products worn in the TV show Moone Boy.
A Tunnocks teacake baby bib will be part of the gift as well. The bib is designed by Gillian Kyle, a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art who specialises in creating products relating to the famous Scottish brand.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
“The birth of a new baby is always an occasion which brings celebration and joy, and I’m happy to be marking the arrival of Princess Charlotte on behalf of the people of Scotland.
“The £50,000 will go towards two charities that work to make a significant difference to the lives of people across Scotland: Cash for Kids makes it its mission to help children achieve their full potential in life, while Turning Point Scotland is a charity which strives to help those who want to help themselves.
“We also want to make sure that Princess Charlotte is kept warm in her early years and will be sending a lovely personalised hat from Wonky Woolies. Being in the possession of one of the firm’s hats, I can personally vouch for their quality!
“Of course, the birth of Princess Charlotte was also a big day for Prince George who became a big brother, and we will make sure he has his own Wonky Woolies hat so there’s no headwear related sibling rivalry.”
Founder and owner of Wonky Woolies, Alison Burn said:
“My team and I are honoured to be asked to make this gift for our new baby princess Charlotte.
“We immediately started chatting excitedly about the colours, design and type of material that would work best. Our thoughts soon turned to our own siblings as we realised there was no way we could make a hat for Charlotte without making one for her big brother George too.
“As the hats are a gift from Scotland we have created a delicate tartan pattern, each incorporating their own name in soft pastel shades using luxurious merino wool. We feel extremely privileged to be selected for this commission and we hope the young prince and princess love their new Wonky hats.”
Debbie Fraser, Regional Charity Manager, Cash for Kids said:
“This is a fantastic gesture from the First Minister which will help around one thousand vulnerable and disabled children across Scotland.
“We’re delighted that the First Minister has chosen Cash for Kids as the beneficiary of this donation in celebration of the birth of Princess Charlotte.”
Martin Cawley, Chief Executive of Turning Point Scotland said:
“We are delighted and thankful to the First Minister for choosing Turning Point Scotland to receive a donation in recognition of the birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
“We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, and Prince George of Cambridge on the arrival of his sister.
“It will be 20 years this July since HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, visited our Glasgow Drug Crisis Centre where she met our staff and the people we support as she had a real empathy for the issues they faced.
“The donation will be used to help people with similar issues that HRH Diana, Princess of Wales was so passionate about.”
Gillian Kyle said:
“Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the safe and quick arrival of Princess Charlotte. We were delighted to see Kate looking so radiant as she showed off her beautiful wee girl outside the hospital. I hope I can manage to look as good after I give birth myself in 3 weeks time!
“I think the little princess is going to look very cute indeed in my organic cotton Tunnock’s Teacake bib – a wee gift from Scotland.”
