A slice of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding cake has been sold for nearly £3,000. The alcohol-laced fruit cake slice, which was made in 1947, is one of the last slices of the 9ft tall cake, which was designed by the chief confectioner at McVitie and Price, to exist.
It is believed the cake slice has been kept in its original box all this time, with an EP cypher and the date of the wedding on the lid. It was originally given to Chief Petty Officer F Lownes, who served in the Royal Navy, in paper packaging addressed to Lownes.
The packaging was stamped with the words “On His Majesty’s Service” – with the father of the bride, King George VI, still sitting on the throne at the time of the wedding.
As reported by The Telegraph, Lownes never ate the cake and left it to his son, who kept it in a drawer.
The Telegraph said that when he died, it was then given to his wife, Lownes’ daughter-in-law.
Now, it belongs to royal fan Gerry Layton, 64, who brought the cake slice for £2,000 at Reeman Dansie Auctioneers of Colchester, Essex. The overall price was £2.7k with fees.
Gerry reportedly is set to keep part of the cake and eat about a third of it at a replica state banquet he plans to hold on the Royal Yacht Britannia to mark his 65th birthday in 2026.
As reported by The Telegraph, Mr Layton said: “I will have a third of it cut off and flambéed in rum so that any bacteria will be killed off. But if anything happens to me, then at least I will be going out in style on Britannia.”
This comes after another slice of the cake was sold at auction last year for £2,200 to a bidder from China, who brought it over the phone.
The fruit cake slice was originally a gift from Queen Elizabeth II, who was a princess at the time, to Marion Polson, who was the housekeeper at The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from 1931 to 1969.
The BBC said the cake was found under her bed when she died, with the housekeeper having been given the slice as she had brought a dessert service for the late monarch and Prince Philip as a wedding gift – something the late Queen appeared to love, as shown in a letter also given to the housekeeper.