Step inside Stafford's royal-themed cafe that boasts 900 pieces of regal memorabilia
A Stafford tearoom which developed a royal theme by accident after a break-in has been inundated with new visitors since the Queen passed away.
Amy Walsh opened a British tearoom called Cup a Cha in January 2016, and says it was a "complete accident" that it evolved into a haven for royal memorabilia.
"When we started, we had lots of royal China which had been passed down through my family, so we made a royal corner," 35-year-old Amy said.
"But we were broken into, just eight months after opening, and lots of the royal memorabilia was smashed. People got wind of this and people donated lots of items - and it evolved from there.
"The theme has really taken off, we've got close to 900 pieces of memorabilia now."
The cafe's collection has some very unique items, including 22 letters to the cafe from the Royal Family – and one of them is even handwritten.
Amy said: "We have letters from royals including the Queen, Charles, Philip, and Kate and Wills. We even received a hand-written letter from Princess Eugenie after her wedding.
"We also have a photo from one of our regulars, Derek Tamea, who used to be a professional photographer.
"He gave us a picture of the Queen with the Lancashire Regiment - and there are only three copies of this photo in existence."
The cafe also has a Grenadier Guards uniform from a former soldier, a portrait of the Queen cross-stitched by a customer, and a gold-printed edition of the Daily Mail's front page for the Coronation.
And in 2019, the cafe was given the Royal Seal of Approval, "which meant the Queen knew of our existence," Amy said, "which is something we can treasure now."
Cup a Cha has been welcoming floods of new customers over the past week, who are flocking to the tearoom to soak up the royal atmosphere and express their grief.
Customers can feel comfort in seeing their late Queen all around them, in countless pictures, magazine covers, and even bunting.
"We've had lots of new faces, it's just a shame it's for such sad reasons," Amy said.
"It's a mixture of emotions. People who aren't able to go to Edinburgh or London feel that this is the right place to say their final goodbyes."
Amy took a break from the cafe on Thursday, and headed down to London to pay her respects to the Queen and lay flowers outside Buckingham Palace.
"I was glued to the TV from 2.30 on the day she died, and we knew it wasn't just that she wasn't very well," Amy said. "We could see the crowds outside Buckingham Palace and all the relatives going to see her.
"We knew this day was going to come, the staff talk about it here all the time, knowing that one day this would happen.
"I felt very nervous going back into the tearoom on Saturday, as she's everywhere. I'm just very happy she had her Platinum Jubilee."
