Kate Middleton is not only marrying into royalty, but she has received an honour previously only enjoyed by celebrities like Elvis, Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

A likeness of the future princess, who marries Britain's Prince William on April 29, has shown up on an item of food. Specifically, a jellybean.

The mango-flavoured sweet was discovered earlier this week in a 700-gram jar from Dublin's Jelly Bean Factory by Wesley Hosie and his girlfriend, Jessica White, from Taunton, Somerset.

"As Jessica opened the jar, I saw her immediately. She was literally lying there staring back at me," Hosie told London's Telegraph.

Richard Cullen, a spokesman for Jelly Bean Factory, confirmed to the newspaper that the design was not intentional.

"All of our beans are handmade and this looks like one of our red speckled mango beans; the natural speckles are unique to each and every jelly bean due to the handmade process," he said.

Hosie and White kept the magical bean, and plan to sell it on eBay for £500 (about $786 Cdn).

"Given that the royal wedding is only a few weeks away, we hope to make a few pounds out of it by selling it on the internet to a collector," said Hosie.

He has reason to be hopeful.

In 2004, a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich thought to contain the image of the Virgin Mary sold on eBay for $28,000 US.