Ian begins planning a great glass gift for the royal wedding

The royal wedding announcement has brought memories flooding back for glassmaker Ian Dury who helped produce a gift of 230 tumblers and glasses for Prince Charles and Diana's nupitals.

While working for Stuart Crystal in South Wales in 1981, he was chosen to visit Buckingham Palace to meet the Princess of Wales so she could choose the unique design for the glassware, later named the Kensington pattern.

The 57-year-old returned to Kensington Palace every month to repair any chips or scratches in the glasses and met William and former butler Harold Butler during his visits over three years.

Mr Dury said he was treated "kindly" by Charles and Diana whenever he visited. "They were always very nice to me and friendly", he said.

Now the father-of-two and other glassmakers at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge will be putting their heads together to create a unique wedding gift for Prince William and his wife-to-be Kate Middleton.

Mr Dury, of Heather Drive, Kinver, who runs Stourbridge Glass Engravers, said the gift was likely to be more modern than the set of 230 glasses presented to Charles and Diana. He said: "We want to create something unique which will show Stourbridge's traditional glass-making heritage is still alive. It is still in the early planning stages but we have a lot of expertise between us and the piece will reflect that."

Mr Dury said he believed the nation will enjoy celebrating the latest royal wedding. "I think everybody is excited about the wedding and it will give everybody a lift during these hard times," he said.

The Ruskin Glass Centre site was once glassmaking firm Webb Corbett before it was taken over by Royal Doulton, which then folded in 2000.

The site recently underwent a £1.4million revamp and houses 11 workshops and four start-up units for glassmakers and engravers.