Own a slice of (stale) royal history: Pieces of King Charles and Prince William's wedding cakes up for sale

Britain's Prince William and his bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (C), pose for an official photograph, with their families, on the day of their wedding, in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, in central London. Picture: Reuters

Britain's Prince William and his bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (C), pose for an official photograph, with their families, on the day of their wedding, in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, in central London. Picture: Reuters

Published Nov 16, 2022

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A slice of King Charles and Prince William's wedding cakes are both expected to fetch between £400 to £600 (about R8 000 - R12 000) at auction.

The British monarch and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla's 17-year-old fruit cake, which guests were served at their reception in Windsor Castle's state apartment on April 9, 2005, is set to go under the hammer later this month.

A portion of the Prince and Princess of Wales' eight-tier fruit cake from their 2011 wedding is also up for sale.

Both come in a commemorative tin with the wedding dates, the couple's initials, and the royal cypher.

Bidding will take place during a three-day sale at Keys auctioneers in Aylsham in Norfolk, which commences on November 23.

Tim Blyth, director at Keys, believes Charles' accession to the throne following the death of Queen Elizabeth, on September 8, will spark a lot of interest.

He said: "With the accession of a new King, and with Prince William subsequently becoming the new Prince of Wales, interest in royal memorabilia is very high at the moment, and we expect there to be brisk bidding for these two slices of history."

Last year, a slice of Charles and the late Princess Diana's wedding cake sold for £1 850.

It was only expected to fetch around £500.

Moyra Smith, of the late Queen Mother's household at Clarence House, preserved the topping with cling film.

Gerry Layton, a boat charterer from Leeds, won the memorabilia and even updated his will to make sure the cake goes to charity when he dies.

The winning bidder also admitted he will find it hard not to eat the cake from their 1981 wedding.

He said at the time: "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 patron of.

"I will have to think of a way to stop myself from trying to eat it though."