A 77-year-old slice of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding cake has fetched nearly $3,700 at auction—soon to be flambéed and eaten by a determined royal fan. The fruit cake, originally served at the couple's 1947 Buckingham Palace reception, had been stored in a drawer for decades by the family of Chief Petty Officer F. Lownes, who received it as a memento but never ate it, the Telegraph reports. After passing through several family members, the slice was put up for sale by Reeman Dansie Auctioneers in Essex. Despite its age, the cake fetched strong interest, underscoring ongoing fascination with British royal memorabilia. Another piece of the cake, this one appearing inedible, sold for about $2,800 in November, per CNN.
The cakes were part of a four-tier, 9-foot-tall creation made by McVitie & Price and distributed to guests in 2,000 pieces. The auctioned piece came in its original box, adorned with a silver crown and an "EP" cypher, and was wrapped in the original paper packaging addressed to Lownes and stamped "On His Majesty's Service"—a nod to King George VI. The winning bidder, Gerry Layton, 64, is a royal enthusiast and entrepreneur who also owns a piece of Charles and Diana's wedding cake. He plans to eat about a third of his new acquisition at a banquet on the Royal Yacht Britannia for his 65th birthday—after flambéing it in rum to kill any bacteria. "If anything happens to me, then at least I will be going out in style on Britannia," Layton says.
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