40-year-old slice of Charles and Diana’s wedding cake to be auctioned off
A large slice of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s famous wedding cake preserved for four decades is set to be auctioned off.
The impressively intact portion from ‘the wedding of the century’ is decorated with an elaborate Royal coat of arms painted in red, gold, blue and silver.
Preserved in cling film in a baking tin for 40 years, the slice is believed to have been cut from a cake given to royal staff thanking them for their efforts after the wedding.
It was first handed to Moyra Smith, an employee of the Queen Mother’s at Clarence House, following the grand 1981 ceremony.
Moyra’s family kept hold of it until 2008 when it was passed onto a collector who kept it sealed away until now.
The cake tin in which the slice has been stored has a note taped to the lid reading: ‘Handle with care. Prince Charles and Princess Diane’s wedding cake, M.C Smith 29/7/81’.
In total, the Prince and Princess of Wales had a staggering 23 official cakes made for the wedding, including a centrepiece 5ft tall layered fruitcake weighing 225lbs.
Weighing 28oz, the ageing 8inch by 7inch portion is tipped to be sold off for £500 by Gloucestershire-based auctioneers Dominic Winter.
But experts have, unsurprisingly, warned prospective buyers against tucking into the icing-covered, marzipan-based fruitcake for health reasons.
Chris Albury, specialist Royal memorabilia valuer at the Cirencester-based auctioneers, said: ‘I still wouldn’t recommend eating it but after 40 years it’s clearly destined to last.
‘It’s a curious and unique keepsake celebrating a royal wedding that holds an enduring fascination with British royalty aficionados worldwide.’
Auctioneers described the slice as a ‘unique Royal keepsake’ which will be sold alongside an order of service for the St Paul’s Cathedral wedding and Royal Wedding Breakfast programme on August 11.
The Smith family were not the first to keep tight hold of a cake from the ‘wedding of the century’.
In 2014, another slice of the Royal couple’s wedding cake was sold for a staggering $1,375 (£990) at an auction held in Los Angeles.
The portion came wrapped in its original wax paper inside an authentic white and silver tin which read ‘Buckingham Palace 29 July 1981’.
Charles and Diana’s ceremony was watched by an estimated global TV audience of 750 million people, with street parties held throughout the UK to celebrate.
However, the Royal couple’s relationship was visibly strained by the late 1980s with rumoured affairs on both sides.
They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996 after 15 years of marriage.
Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris, France, on August 31, 1997.
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