How much ‘lobola’ is Kate Middleton worth?

Kate Middleton’s marriage to Prince William royal wedding in the UK is set to receive a local gift: Lobola, a Southern African wedding custom, required by the groom as symbolic payment to the family of the bride.

Kulula.com believes it’s time for the people to decide exactly what Kate is worth – and Facebook is where you can vote on a campaign called Cows 4 Kate.

Based on the results, Kate will receive between 1 and 50 cows.

In order to take part, you have to click “Like” on the Kulula Facebook page, which is a simple and ingenious way of building a following for the low-cost airline. Then fans are asked to consider “Kate’s education, achievements on and off the field, social standing, virtue, height, posture, hair condition, foot size and maybe the ability to wear silly hats without looking silly,” before voting on how many cows she should receive.

On Monday morning, she was judged to be worth an average of 26. That number then fell by two cows to 24 by the late afternoon.

To help raise cash to buy the cows, Kulula has launched a special deal: Fly with them and a portion of every flight you book until the day before the wedding is going towards royal gift. The airline serves various destinations in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Wills has been a big fan of South Africa and we’re big fans of him and his bride-to-be,” says Kulula marketing manager Nadine Damen. “With all there is to arrange he probably hasn’t considered fully the benefits of the lobola tradition. We’re more than happy, alongside our Kulula fans, to be sending him the finest cows we can get our hands on in order to make their happy day even more special.”