Slice of Queen Elizabeth's 77-Year-Old Wedding Cake Sells for More Than $3K—and the Buyer Is Going to Eat It

Would you eat a 77-year-old slice of cake? One royal fan intends to do just that after winning a slice of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's wedding cake from 1947, which sold for about $3,669 at a recent auction.

The coveted slice of perfectly preserved fruit cake was purchased by Gerry Layton, who also owns a piece of King Charles and Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding cake, The Telegraph reports. It is one of the last pieces of cake from the royal wedding in existence. Despite its rarity, Layton plans to eat it.

He told the outlet he intends to eat some of the cake during a replica state banquet he wants to hold on the Royal Yacht Britannia for his 65th birthday next year. "I will have a third of it cut off and flambéed in rum so that any bacteria will be killed off," he said. "But if anything happens to me, then at least I will be going out in style on Britannia."

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According to The Telegraph, the slice of cake was originally given to Chief Petty Officer F Lownes, who served in the Royal Navy. He left the cake to his son, who kept it in a drawer. After he died, it went to his wife—Lownes' daughter-in-law—before going up for auction.

The slice was sold by Reeman Dansie Auctioneers in its original box with a presentation card. It came with a letter from Queen Elizabeth. "My husband and I are touched to know that you shared in giving us such a delightful wedding present," she wrote. "We are both enchanted with the dessert service; the different flowers and the beautiful coloring will, I know, be greatly admired by all who see it."

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding cake was a 9-foot-tall masterpiece, weighing 500 pounds. According to CNN, the cake was decorated with both families' coats of arms and sugar-iced figures of the royal couple's favorite activities.

In total, 2,000 slices of the cake were cut for guests. Per CNN, hundreds more were sent to charities and other organizations. One tier was kept for the then-Prince Charles' christening. A few of the preserved slices have been sold at auction, including one in 2013 that went for $2,300 in an auction hosted by Christie's.