A DORSET company that produced 5,000 souvenir plates celebrating the birth of the new Royal baby was left red-faced when its gamble failed to pay off.

But now the remaining stock commemorating the arrival of the first Princess – instead of Prince – of Cambridge could be turned into cash for children’s charities.

Businessman Karl Baxter of Wholesale Clearance in Poole bought up the batch at a knock-down price for the novelty section of its website, which has 1.5 million page users a month.

He explained that the small family company that made the plates had received what it thought was a surefire tip on the gender of the baby before he was born.

“They were 100 per cent sure it was correct and wanted to be the first company out there with memor-abilia,” he said.

“I get offered all sorts of weird and wonderful stock. I paid next to nothing for them – the guy was a bit embarrassed and desperate to get them out of his warehouse. I’ve had them since two days after the birth of Prince George and they’ve sold well.”

Karl, has been selling the plates in batches of 50, and is currently offering a single plate through online auction website eBay in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Bidding closes at 12.13pm on Friday and the plate can be found with the unique code 221264122309.

“I’ve been getting requests to do smaller amounts. I have 1,200 left and have decided to give them away to children-orientated charities. I want them to email me about themselves and tell me what they are going to do with the plates.

“I’m hoping they will come up with some innovative ideas rather than just putting them in a shop. I think the plates will be worth something at a later date. People out there like the little bit different.”

In 2011, a company called Guandong Enterprises produced a Royal wedding mug bearing pictures of Kate Middleton and Prince Harry instead of his brother. It has become a collectors’ item, changing hands for hundreds of pounds.

n Karl Baxter made headlines in January when he became stuck with 10,000 DVDs featuring Lance Armstrong – just before the champion cyclist’s career was ended by a drugs scandal.

Karl said at the time: “This is one of the few things I’ve managed to buy that has come back to bite me.”