Piece Of Charles And Diana's 40-Year-Old Wedding Cake To Be Auctioned Off

Jul 29, 2021

On July 29, 1981, Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, making today the 40th anniversary. Despite their union not lasting, their wedding went down in history and is still remembered today — there's a reason it's called the "wedding of the century." The couple's wedding was truly a perfect fairytale moment, although it sadly didn't give them a fairytale ending. 

Diana was just 20 years old when she married Charles, who was 32, and they'd been together for a couple of years prior to their big day. A large wedding by any standard, 3,500 attendees fit into St. Paul's Cathedral that day, while a televised home audience watched on around the world. The couple had a beautiful, traditional ceremony and there were even events held around the Commonwealth so everyone could join in on the romantic festivities.

From her stunning wedding dress that recently went on display at Kensington Palace, to the beautiful ring she wore — which has since been passed down to Diana's daughter-in-law Kate Middleton — Diana was the epitome of elegance and grace on her special day. Her wedding dress featured the longest train in royal history and truly introduced her to the world as a princess.

For a royal wedding of its size, it's no surprise that Diana and Charles had multiple cakes made to accommodate all 3,500 of their guests. There was one main cake, which even had a duplicate made in case something happened to it, as well as 26 more, numbering 27 in total. In 2014, one piece of the wedding cake was up for auction, surprising many. Well, now another piece of cake has shown up and is set to be auctioned on Aug. 11! Let's take a look.

Who would think that a 40-year-old piece of wedding cake would ever go to auction? Well, when it came from the "wedding of the century," it's not the wildest idea. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's royal wedding. Despite their relationship not lasting, their wedding is still remembered as a fairytale wedding and a high point of the royal family's reign.

The slice of wedding cake is set to be auctioned on Aug. 11 and was given to Moyra Smith, who was a member of the Queen Mother's household at Clarence House. Smith kept the gorgeous piece of cake, preserving the icing with cling film and keeping it stowed away in a floral cake tin. She ensured that nobody in her house accidentally ate the iconic slice by taping a label to the lid that read, as reported by the BBC:

"Handle with Care — Prince Charles & Princess Diane's [sic] Wedding Cake."

Smith's family parted with the unique piece of memorabilia back in 2008, when it was sold to a collector. Now, it will change hands once again. The BBC also reports that it could go for between £300–500 ($420–700) at auction. Chris Albury from Dominic Winter Auctioneers told the news outlet:

"It appears to be in exactly the same good condition, but we advise against eating it."

A photo of the large slice shows a gorgeous coat-of-arms on it that's colored gold, red, blue and silver. Alongside the piece of cake, other memorabilia from the wedding will also be auctioned off including ceremonial details, an order of service and a royal wedding breakfast program. 

On the occasion of the royal wedding, a total of 27 cakes were made, including a duplicate of the 5-foot-tall main cake in case an accident were to occur. Thirty-three years after the wedding, one slice of the cake sold at auction for around $1,375, still in the original box that it was given to guests in.

Although Charles and Diana's wedding appeared very traditional, there were in fact quite a few aspects that either broke from tradition or set new records at the time. These included Diana being the first bride of a British heir without a royal title in over 300 years (however, her family did come from the nobility), the first royal wedding to take place at St. Paul's Cathedral since 1501, and Diana's wish to omit the word "obey" from their vows. 

In total, it's believed that around 750 million people across 74 countries tuned in from around the world to witness the royal wedding, while 600,000 people lined the streets of London. The BBC described this as "marking a highpoint in the popularity of the royal family." However, Charles and Diana's ceremony wasn't the first one to be broadcast live on TV. Over two decades earlier, Princess Margaret's 1960 wedding to her first husband Antony Armstrong-Jones was televised, raking in an estimated 300 million viewers.

Charles and Diana's wedding might have been perfect but a fairytale wedding doesn't come without a hefty price tag, especially one for which a huge amount of security had to be taken into account. According to Business Insider, the wedding cost a whopping $48 million, which comes to $110 million when inflation is taken into account.  

What do you think about a 40-year-old piece of wedding cake going to auction? Would you have saved a piece if you had been invited too? Pass this on to other royal fans so they can hear about it too!