HOW WERE THE ROYAL INVITES INVITES MADE?

Using American ink on English card, the invitations are printed in gold and black, then burnished to bring out the shine, and gilded around the edge

The plate for the black text was engraved into copper whilst the plate for The Three Feather Badge of The Prince of Wales was a pre-existing die that was hand-etched into steel a number of years ago.

The process of die-stamping is an embossed printing technique, meaning the finished print has a subtle raised texture. To create this raised image, a piece of card was trimmed by hand around the area to be printed. 

This is known as a 'force'. This pushes that specific area of the paper up into the engraved die so the ink can be applied.

Each invitation was then fed by hand into the press and the black ink printed onto the face. Once completed, the press was washed up and re-set ready for the gold print run of the crest. 

Each invitation was then fed by hand into the press and the black ink printed onto the face. Once completed, the press was washed up and re-set ready for the gold print run of the crest

To give the metallic shine that die-stamping is renowned for, the invitations were passed through the machine twice, once to apply the gold ink and a second 'burnishing' run (used to smooth out imperfections in the ink and polish up the image).

As a final finishing touch, the printed invitations were bevelled and gilded in gold along the edges. The bevelled and gilded edge allows the gold border to be viewed when looking straight down at the invitation as opposed to just being visible from the sides.

Austen Kopley, Managing Director of Barnard & Westwood, said: 'The wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle will be a truly special occasion and we are thrilled to be able to create equally special invitations for their guests. 

'We are incredibly honoured to continue our longstanding work for The Royal Family, and to be involved in such an important moment for the couple and their family and friends.'