Lot 301 : Charles and Diana (Prince and Princess of Wales).
Dominic Winter - Near Cirencester - 27 August 2008
Printed Books & Maps, Historical Documents & Ephemera
Title:
Charles and Diana (Prince and Princess of Wales).
Description:
Charles and Diana (Prince and Princess of Wales). A large slice of cake icing and marzipan base from one of the twenty-three official wedding cakes made for the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on 29th July 1981, the white icing with a sugared onlay of the Royal Coat-of-Arms coloured in gold, red, blue, and silver, a small silver horseshoe and leaf spray adjacent, some white decorative icing tracery laid on top at head and foot, partly cracked and sl. damage to shield of crest and other extremities, approx. 9" x 8" x 1.5" deep, (28 oz or 800 grams), preserved in clingfilm, together with a typed letter signed by both 'Charles and Diana', Balmoral Castle, 22nd October 1981, to Mrs [Moyra] Smith thanking her for her contribution to the clock they were given as a wedding present, the salutation in Charles's holograph, the sentiment in Diana's holograph, one page, 4to, in orig. hand-delivered envelope addressed to Mrs M Smith, Clarence House, initial 'C' lower left, sl. soiled and torn, plus an unopened 275 ml bottle of 1982 Royal Heritage beer by Gibbs Mew, produced to mark the birth of Prince William Provenance: From the family of Moyra Smith, an employee to the Queen Mother at Clarence House. Moyra, a Scottish lady, started her career at Clarence House in the kitchen before moving on to more general duties on the recommendation of Lady Jean Rankin. The slice of cake icing is in remarkably good condition considering the difficulties involved in removing this from the cake. Besides the main official five-tier wedding cake, some twenty-two other wedding cakes were supplied by various manufacturers and this seems likely to have been one sent to Clarence House for the consumption of the Queen Mother's staff. In view of its size, it is most likely that it was either from the side of a cake, or from the top of a single-tier cake. A highly unusual (and probably inedible) collector's item. (3)
