A piece of cake from the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles has been sold at auction

A piece of cake from the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles was sold at auction for a surprisingly low price.

On October 19, the British auction house Dore and Rees held an auction of items related to the royal family. Among other lots, a 41-year-old piece of cake from the wedding of British Prince Charles (currently bearing the title of King Charles III of Great Britain) and Diana Spencer was also exhibited.

The cake belonged to Nigel Ricketts, who worked at Buckingham Palace as a French floor polisher. He took his portion of dessert home and kept it in the original box for more than 40 years. The man died in early 2022, and an expert from the auction company Dore and Rees came to his home to evaluate some items. That's when he discovered a piece of wedding cake, still wrapped in a napkin and greaseproof paper.

Despite many years of aging, the dessert almost did not deteriorate – most likely due to the large amount of alcohol that was used during cooking.

The packed and uneaten piece of cake was packed in a box embossed with "Buckingham Palace" and the date of the wedding and was offered at an estimate of 200-300 pounds, but was sold for only 170 pounds (or 190 US dollars).

A total of 23 official cakes were prepared for the wedding. The piece put up for auction in a gift box is from a central fruit cake, the height of its 5 tiers was more than one and a half meters.

A note from Prince Charles addressed to royal staff during the wedding ceremony is also up for auction.

This is not the first time a wedding cake has been sold at auction. However, for the first time the lot went much cheaper than expected in the auction house. In August 2021, another piece of cake from the wedding of Charles and Diana caused a real stir and was sold for 1,850 pounds.

In addition, other pieces of Charles and Diana's wedding cake and other royal desserts were sold at auction for more than 1,500 pounds.