Owned by Qatar firm, Harrod's embraces royal wedding

Last year, Harrod's,was bought by Qatar Holding Group LLC. The store's new owners unveil the most lavish royal wedding celebratory display in London.

Tourists admire one of the Royal wedding window displays at Harrods in Knightsbridge, London.

LONDON // Each cake stands one-metre high and was created by some of the world's most famous designers for jewellers, patissiers and luxury goods brands.

Indeed, it's unlikely that one of the couple's actual choices - Prince William's favourite, the humble chocolate biscuit cake - would have made the final cut if suggested for inclusion in Harrods' commemorative Royal Wedding window display.

On May 8, it will be one year since Britain's most famous store was bought by Qatar Holding Group LLC, the investment arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.

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At the time, Vice Chairman Hussain Ali Al-Abdulla, described the 1.5 billion pound (Dh9.1bn) purchase of the iconic store, which stands in the heart of Knightsbridge - London's "Little Arabia" - as a "landmark transaction". It was the first time that the Qatar Holding had bought 100 per cent of a European company directly.

Now, days before Prince William and Kate Middleton's marriage, the store's new owners have unveiled the most lavish celebratory display in the capital.

In the windows are eighteen, multi-tiered wedding cakes, viewed through ornate blue and silver framing, each more extravagant than the last. Van Cleef & Arpels' creation boasts six tiers decorated with ornate fairytale scenes and glistening with tiny crystals. Next is a cake cascading with citrus-bright flowers designed by Saville Row tailor Richard James. Alice Temperly, the designer of maid of honour Pippa Middleton's dress, features five layers of Union Jacks, topped with a golden crown.

Montblanc's traditional white square tiers, with blue-piped edges, are restrained by comparison to confections from designers such as fashion's Matthew Williamson, whose cake features candied flowers, butterflies and bubbles tumbling down the tiers; glassware's Lalique with its red blown-glass blossoms against cream-white icing; Laduree's tower of the French patissers' famous macroons in pale yellow; and Joe Malone's creation that relects the familiar cream and black packaging of her perfumes and scented candles.

The offering from Spanish porcelain brand Lladro is downright odd, topped with a space-suit clad Prince William offering a porcelain apple to a mermaid-like Kate.

Within moments of the display's unveiling on Tuesday, crowds had gathered to pore over the detail of this extraordinary spectacle, which will be dismanteled on Saturday when the cakes are returned to their designers.

Hundreds of people have visited Harrods' Facebook page, many expressing their appreciation for the display. "What a terrific display. Such respect shown for the young couple," wrote one woman. "Those cakes are just beautiful. Too pretty to eat!," wrote another. A blog featuring photographs of the lavishly decorated windows said: "All I can say is Harrods Department Store leads the Royal Wedding frenzy. Incredible."

The windows, that stretch along Brompton Road, also feature photographs of previous royal weddings, from Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, to Prince Andrew's wedding to Sarah Ferguson in 1986.

It would be hard to imagine, in its sheer extravagance, a more visual declaration of the new chapter in this iconic store's 187-year history.

For many years, under its previous owner Mohammed Al Fayed, Harrods had been mired in tragic history. All too often, its famous frontage served as the backdrop to media reports on the 1997 deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed, Mohammed's son, and Mr Al Fayed's continued railing against the Royal Family.

There is still an acknowledgement of that history in the memorial to Diana and Dodi at the bottom of the store's Egyptian-themed escalator. But the controversial bronze statue of the couple placed there by Mr Al Fayed has been removed and, in its place, is a fountain featuring photos of the couple, illuminated by candles.

Those difficult days are no longer at the heart of Harrods' ownership and, in stark contrast to their predecessor, the store's new owners enjoy a warm relationship with the British royal family.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, emir of Qatar, and his wife Sheikah Mozah bint Nasser al Missned will be among the congregation celebrating the wedding in Westminster Abbey on Friday.