The marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is set to increase retail spending across the UK by £195.5 million over the next three months, according to industry analyst Diane Wehrle.

This represents a 0.2 per cent rise in shopping which is directly attributable to the royal wedding, which is set to take place on Saturday and will be watched by millions across the country and around the world.

Wehrle, who is the director of insights at Springboard, told Internet Retailing that events of this kind tend to have a stimulating effect on sales made via safe shopping online, as well as on the high street.

She cites the wedding of William and Kate back in 2011 as being a great example of this, with bricks and mortar stores seeing a five per cent uptick in visitor numbers in the seven days leading up to the ceremony and a knock-on effect of increased spending in the subsequent months.

Ms Markle herself is seen as being a key influencer in consumer spending at the moment, with clothing and accessory sales expected to soar as her impact as a fashion icon grows.

As the wedding gets underway, retailers and brands are expected to swamp social media with content related to the event in an attempt to engage with consumers who seem to be caught up in the spirit of the event.

Platforms like Twitter and Instagram have become particularly important to companies that want to attract customers and encourage them to carry out safe shopping online without relying on paid ads.

It is obvious that a royal wedding has the capacity to boost the morale of the UK, which in turn translates into increased consumer spending as people get a brief respite from the economic uncertainty which has kept them cautious in recent months.