Royal Wedding Cake on Sale for £1,500

19 July 2013

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

A slice of cake from Britain's Queen Elizabeth's wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh has gone on sale for £1,200.

TV antiques dealer, Gordon Watson, is offering a lucky buyer the chance to get their hands on a piece of the well-preserved, 66-year-old alcohol-filled fruit cake, which was found by a charity worker in a draw of a filling cabinet after six decades.

Gordon bought the calorific treat on Channel 4's 'Four Rooms' in 2011 for £1,100 but has decided to put it back up for sale as part of an "antiques clear out."

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "Here was this manky old bit of fruit cake but it intrigued me.

"At the time it was made England was still under rationing but here was this beautiful princess marrying her beloved in a fairytale wedding.

"It got me thinking that this mouldy old slice of cake is symbolic of everything we fought for in the war and the hardships the country went through.

"In order to keep buying I have to keep selling so every few years I have a clear-out."

The cake had originally been give to CH Spackman - one of the couple's guards of honour - but after he died, it was passed on to the Princess Alice Hospice in Surrey, in the hope that it could be auctioned off to raise money for the charity.

However, it was forgotten about until charity worker Anna Fiddimore found it when she sorting through the archives for the hospice.

The cake is being auctioned at Christie's in London on September 5.

Charlotte George, from auctioneers Christie's, said: "It is slightly peculiar but this auction is a great chance to own a slice of history.

"The cake was made using rum and brandy, which would explain how it has lasted so well.

"Remarkably, it is still in one piece, wrapped in baking parchment. I wouldn't recommend eating it - but as a collector's item it is fantastic."