Overview

• Reeman Dansie Auctioneers sold the 77-year-old fruit cake slice for a hammer price of £2,000 with fees bringing the final total to £2,700.
• Originally one of 2,000 pieces distributed at Buckingham Palace in November 1947, the slice remains in its silver-embossed “EP” cyphered box stamped “On His Majesty’s Service.”
• Gerry Layton, a 64-year-old royal enthusiast from Colchester, beat international bidders to acquire what he believes is likely the last surviving portion of the royal wedding confection.
• Layton intends to have roughly a third of the slice flambéed in rum before consuming it at a meticulously recreated state banquet on the Royal Yacht Britannia to mark his 65th birthday.
• The original nine-foot, four-tier cake was designed by McVitie & Price under wartime rationing, with ingredients flown in from Commonwealth nations.