By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 12, 2008
THEY are constantly under fire for selling their cut-price kilts.
Now the man behind Princess Diana's official memorial tartan has accused Edinburgh's "kings of tartan tat" of illegally copying his design.
Scottish Tartans Authority chairman Alistair Buchan said he has seen his design for sale in stores owned by the Gold Brothers - otherwise known as Surinder, Galab and Dildar Singh - with Princess Diana's name attached.
Mr Buchan's company Lochcarron of Scotland was, until last month, the only firm registered to distribute the tartan on behalf of The Estate of Diana, Princess of Wales.
The agreement with Lochcarron was terminated for separate reasons last month, but Mr Buchan said the copies have been on sale for years.
Ten per cent of the manufacturer's selling price was historically donated to the Diana Memorial Fund, but it is not known if any of the money from the "unregistered copies" has been going to the fund.
Mr Buchan said: "When I first saw the copies being sold they actually had the Princess of Wales' name attached to it, so I went into one of their stores and explained that they were selling these items erroneously.
"The salesman apologised and said they would be removed from sale, but they just carried on selling it without the Diana name. Lochcarron wrote them a letter again asking them to withdraw it from sale. But again they ignored it.
"I saw it on sale on the Royal Mile as early as a month ago. Whenever I've tried to contact them they've just shrugged their shoulders and declined to talk."
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Tartan is based on the Royal Stewart design, updated to reflect the character, image and life of the Princess.
The tartan is largely pale blue, with a dark red stripe "to symbolise the Princess's work for charity". Each shade in the tartan is one which the Princess favoured.
However, The Princess of Wales Memorial Trust ceased marketing her image for charitable purposes three years ago.
A second tartan owner, Rosemary Samios, has already secured an interim interdict against the Gold Brothers banning them from selling, importing or exporting her own Isle of Skye tartan.
Mr Buchan has also reported Gold Brothers to trading standards in Edinburgh for allegedly misrepresenting their goods as Scottish produce, when much of it has been imported from overseas.
A trading standards spokesman confirmed that the complaint has been received and would be investigating the matter. Gold Brothers partner Dildar Singh declined to comment when contacted by the Evening News
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