A slice of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s wedding cake is up for sale – 40 years after Charles and Diana tied the knot.
The anniversary of their fairy-tale royal nuptials, when the heir to the throne married shy 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer in the grand St Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981, falls on Thursday.
But their relationship was not too last, and far from reaching their ruby anniversary, they split 11 years later in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
The large slice of cake icing and marzipan base from one of the 23 official wedding cakes features a sugared only of the Royal coat-of-arms colored in gold, red, blue, and silver.
It was given to Moyra Smith, a member of the Queen Mother’s household at Clarence House, who preserved the topping with cling film.
She kept it in an old floral cake tin and taped a handmade label to the lid, reading: “Handle with Care – Prince Charles & Princess Diane’s (sic) Wedding Cake” which she signed and dated 29/7/81.
Mrs Smith’s family sold the cake in 2008 to a collector, but it has come up for auction once again, coinciding with the Waleses’ 40th wedding anniversary.
Chris Albury, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said: “It appears to be in exactly the same good condition as when originally sold, but we advise against eating it.”
It is expected to fetch between £300 and £500 when it goes under the hammer along with an order of service, ceremonial details, and a royal wedding breakfast program.
The cake will feature in Dominic Winter’s Books, Maps, Prints, Documents, Ephemera Auction on August 11.
