Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding cake slice, a 77-year old piece, was sold in an auction in Scotland.
The cake’s slice has been preserved for nearly eight decades since November 20, 1947, which is now not suitable for consumption but still sold at the price of Rs 2.36 lakh ($2,800) . The slice remains carefully preserved in its original small box, featuring a silver insignia of the then-Princess Elizabeth and contains an ornate doily, CNN reported.
The cake was originally dispatched from Buckingham Palace to Marion Polson, who served as housekeeper at Holyrood House in Edinburgh, Scotland, as a token from the royal couple.
Polson also received a letter of gratitude from Elizabeth for “such a delightful wedding present.”
The letter, typed and signed by Elizabeth, stated: “We are both enchanted with the dessert service; the different flowers and the beautiful colouring will, I know, be greatly admired by all who see it.”
“This is a present which we shall use constantly, and whenever we shall think of the kindness and good wishes for our happiness which it represents.”
The original wedding cake stood impressively at nine-foot tall (2.7 metres), weighing 500 pounds.
The cake’s decorations included both families’ coats of arms and sugar-iced figures depicting the couple’s preferred activities. It provided 2,000 portions for guests, with additional slices distributed to charities and organisations, whilst one tier was reserved for the then Prince Charles’ christening.
Other preserved slices have appeared at auctions over the years, with Christie’s reporting a piece selling for £1,750 ($2,300) in 2013.
In comparison, a slice from Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding cake, preserved in plastic wrap within an old cake tin, achieved £1,850 (then $2,565) at auction in 2021.
This four-decade-old cake piece displayed a coat-of-arms in gold, red, blue and silver, accompanied by a silver horseshoe and leaf spray, plus white icing embellishments.