Queen’s Wedding Cake Slice Auctions for Nearly £3,000

A nearly 80-year-old slice of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s 1947 wedding cake, measuring 4 by 3 inches and preserved in its original box, was sold at auction for nearly £3,000 to royal memorabilia collector Gerry Layton. The fruit cake, originally gifted to Royal Navy officer F. Lownes and passed down through three generations of his family, is one of the last existing among 2,000 original slices. Layton, who also owns a slice of Charles and Diana’s wedding cake, plans to flambé and eat a third of the cake at a replica state banquet on the Royal Yacht Britannia for his 65th birthday. He believes the alcohol will make the cake safe to eat. The sale reflects continued global fascination with royal artifacts. Similar slices from the original wedding cake have also fetched comparable prices at auction.