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A slice of cake from Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding cake has been sold for 1,850 pounds (USD 2,565) at an auction – more than 40 years after the fairy-tale marriage took place.
The generous slice is from one of the 23 official wedding cakes the British royal couple served at their wedding.
The piece of cake icing and marzipan base features a detailed, sugared design of the royal coat of arms in gold, red, blue and silver.
It was given to Moya Smith, a member of the Queen Mother’s staff, who preserved it with cling film and dated it July, 29, 1981.
Smith kept the slice 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”, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
Her family sold the cake to a collector in 2008.
After a flurry of bidding from across the world, the cake piece was sold on Wednesday to Gerry Layton.
It was expected to raise just 500 pounds but auctioneers said they were “amazed” at the interest.
Layton, a luxury boat charterer, said he has put in his will that the cake along with his estate to go to charity after his death.
“I thought I would like to add it to my estate, which will be going to charity after my death,” he said.
“I also thought that I could put it up as a raffle prize with some of the money going to Centrepoint, which Princess Di was the patron of.”
“I will have to think of a way to stop myself from trying to eat it though.”
Layton said he planned to make the trip from Yorkshire to Gloucestershire to collect the cake next week, as he wanted to ensure it remained in good condition.
Chris Albury, a royal memorabilia specialist at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester, said he was amazed at the number of interested bidders. Most of the inquiries came from the UK, the US and the Middle East, he said.
“This was an irresistible piece of royal memorabilia history for many.” Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 July 1981. Charles and Diana split 11 years later in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Diana died in a horrific car crash in Paris in 1997.
