A Slice of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Wedding Cake Will Be Auctioned Off
A slice of royal history will go to the highest bidder next month when Kate Middleton and Prince William auction off a piece of cake from their 2011 wedding.
Chiswick Auction House will start the bidding at $1,300 and if history repeats itself, the price of the six-year-old confection will top out much higher. (According to Yahoo, another sliver of the eight-tier fruit cake sold for an astounding $10,000 back in 2014.)
The once-edible confection will be displayed in the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s cream and gold custom commemorative tin from their wedding. The relic will be accompanied by a keepsake card which reads, “With best wishes from TRH (Their Royal Highnesses) The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in celebration of the wedding of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.”
Chief petty officer cook David Avery with the royal wedding cake made for Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding, 29th July 1981. (Photo by Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)(Right image) LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 29: Fiona Cairns stands next to the Royal Wedding cake that she and her team at Fiona Cairns Ltd of Leicestershire made for Prince William and Catherine Middleton in the Picture Gallery of Buckingham Palace on April 29, 2011 in central London, England. The marriage of Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, to Catherine Middleton is being held in London today. The Archbishop of Canterbury conducted the service which was attended by 1900 guests, including foreign Royal family members and heads of state. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world have also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the Royal Wedding and street parties are being held throughout the UK. (John Stillwell-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
According to the auction site, the cake—designed by cake-maker Fiona Cairns—was created with the “language of flowers” in mind. The Duchess of Cambridge requested that Cairns use the Joseph Lambeth technique—an intricate infusion of three-dimensional piped leaves, flowers and garlands—which took the baker five weeks to perfect. Included were 17 types of foliage, each with a unique, significant meaning, and 900 expertly-placed sugar-paste flowers.
Interested bidders will have a chance at the sweet souvenir on September 27. And while the cost may seem lofty, collectors of royal memorabilia would describe the relic as priceless. John Hoatson, a Florida man who owns $500,000 worth of Princess Diana keepsakes, says his collection—including a slice of wedding cake from her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles—allows him to play a part in preserving history. As Hoatson explained, the type of cake is an added bonus. “It’s fruitcake. It will never get old,” he said. “It’s preserved by the air.”
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