While it’s more than 40 years old, a slice of wedding cake from Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s royal wedding been auctioned in Gloucestershire – selling for well above the estimate.
The famous couple married at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday 29 July 1981 and collectors of royal memorabilia had the chance to get a taste of the celebration – with a large slice of cake from one of the 23 official wedding cakes made for the occasion auctioned off at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday 11 August 2021.
The cake, which is wrapped in cling film, has white icing and is decorated with a sugared onlay of the royal coat-of-arms, as well as a small silver horseshoe and leaf spray. It is most likely from either the side of a cake or from the top of a single-tier cake based on its size.
It was given to Moyra Smith, an employee to the Queen Mother at Clarence House, and was acquired by Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday 27 August 2008 when it was sold on behalf of Moyra’s family.
The royal cake lot was accompanied by printed Ceremonial and Order of Service programmes for the wedding, as well as a memorial Royal Wedding Breakfast menu and table seating programme for Buckingham Palace for the date of the wedding.
The bidding for the cake started at £300 and was eventually sold for £1,850 to an internet bidder in the Middle East.
Auctioneer and royal memorabilia specialist Chris Albury of Dominic Winter Auctioneers said: ‘We were amazed at the number of people wanting to bid on this large and unique piece of royal cake.
‘It seemed to get far more attention than when we sold it with a Charles and Diana thank you letter 13 years ago. There were lots of enquiries from bidders, mostly in UK, USA and several countries in the Middle East.’
