Auction house Reeman Dansie recently sold a 77-year-old slice of the cake served at Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding for $2,800. The wedding took place on November 20, 1947, and the piece of cake has surprisingly survived for more than eight decades. However, it does not look edible.
It is packaged inside a small box with the silver insignia of Elizabeth, who was a princess at the time, stamped on it. There is also an elaborate doily inside.
The cake was sent as a gift from the royal couple to the housekeeper, Marion Polson, at Holyrood House in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Alongside the cake is a typewritten letter from Queen Elizabeth, thanking Polson for “such a delightful wedding present”.
“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 letter further reads.
Queen Elizabeth and Philip’s wedding cake was nine-foot tall
This is not the only piece of cake from their wedding to have survived. One of them was sold at an auction in 2013 and fetched $2,300, according to auction house Christie’s.
Queen Elizabeth and Philip’s wedding cake was measured a whopping nine feet and weighed 500 pounds. It was decorated with both families’ coats of arms and featured sugar-iced figures of the couple’s favourite activities.
The cake was divided into several parts, with 2,000 slices being served to the guests. Hundreds of slices were sent to charities and other organisations, with one tier being saved for Prince Charles’ christening.
Another royal wedding cake whose slices have been sold at auctions was from Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding. One such slice kept in a plastic wrap in an old cake tin sold for $2,565 at an auction in 2021.