Piece of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding cake from 1947 is sold after being hidden in drawer for decades - and it's new owner intends to eat it
The 78-year-old slither of alcohol-laced fruit cake was one of 2,000 from the 1947 wedding, and has been languishing in a drawer ever since.
The slice of history was given to Chief Petty Officer F. Lownes, who served in the Royal Navy, at the Buckingham Palace reception.
Measuring at 4inch by 3inch, the piece of cake was never eaten and instead passed down to his son.
And the slice, originally from the 9ft lavish cake, stayed in its original box with a silver embossed crown 'EP' cypher and date on the lid.
Eventually, the fruit cake was given to Mr Lownes' daughter-in-law, alongside the original packaging addressed to the Royal Navy officer, stamped with the words 'On His Majesty's Service' in reference to father-of-the-bride, King George VI.
Since, the cake was put up for auction and bought by a royal fan and entrepreneur Gerry Layton who beat off international interest in it.
Remarkably, he intends to eat about a third of it at a replica state banquet he hopes to hold on the Royal Yacht Britannia to mark his 65th birthday next year.
The 64-year-old, who also owns a piece of Charles & Diana's wedding cake, said he will have the cake flambeed in rum before he consumes it.
'This slice is extremely rare and is probably the last piece of Queen Elizabeth II's wedding cake in existence,' he said.
'It is in good condition having been wrapped and kept in its box for almost 80 years.
'I hope to hire Britannia and have a replica state banquet there at my cost
'I will have a third of it cut off and flambeed in rum so that any bacteria will be killed off.
'But if anything happens to me then at least I will be going out in style on Britannia.'
The sliced was sold by Reeman Dansie Auctioneers of Colchester, Essex, for a hammer price of £2,000 but with fees added on the overall price was £2,900.
James Grinter, specialist at Reeman Dansie, said: 'They are very rare items and don't come on the market very often.
'It was sold directly from the family of the person who received it in 1947.. I believe it is a tradition that certain Royal Navy personnel were sent a piece of wedding cake.
'Mr Lownes' kept hold of it and left it to his son. It had been sitting in a drawer for many years and the vendor, Mr Lownes' daughter-in-law, never thought it would be that valuable. She was delighted by the result.'
The royal wedding cake was designed by the chief confectioner at McVitie and Price Ltd.
As rationing from the war was still underway, the ingredients for the 500lb fruit cake had to be flown to the UK from South Africa and Australia, earning it the nickname 'the 10,000 mile cake'.
It was cut by Prince Philip with his ceremonial sword and produced 2,000 slices for guests, with hundreds further sent with hand-written notes to various charities and organisations across the globe.
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