Slice of Queen Elizabeth II’s 78-year-old wedding cake up for auction

By Ed Chatterton

One of the last pieces of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s wedding cake is to be auctioned after 78 years - giving Brits a chance to own a slice of royal history.

The crumbly piece of fruit cake was given to Cyril Dickman, who worked for the royal household as a servant for over five decades.

The alcohol-laced slice was one of 2,000 from the 1947 wedding reception at Buckingham Palace - but was never eaten by Mr Dixon during his lifetime.

He passed away in 2012 aged 85 and his slice of cake is now expected to fetch between $150-$200 at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbys.

Owner Charles Hanson said: “When I first saw the cake, I thought ‘crumbs’ what a find.

"We’ve had pieces of wedding cake from other royal weddings come through out saleroom but never one from one of the most enduring royal marriages of all time.

"As an ardent royalist I was delighted to have in some small way shared a part of that very special day almost 80 years later.

"The cake seems to have survived the passage of time quite well, though it’s not something I would want to dunk in a cup of tea.

"On its own, it’s just a box of crumbs, but with its incredible story, it is nothing less than a slice of British history."

Their lavish cake, designed by the chief confectioner at McVitie & Price, stood at a 9ft tall and consisted of four tiers.

The ingredients for the 500lb fruit cake had to be flown to the UK from South Africa and Australia as rationing from the war was still underway.

This earned it the nickname "the 10,000 mile cake" and it was made with 80 oranges, 660 eggs, and more than three gallons of navy rum.

It was also decorated with royal crests, including the duke’s regimental and naval badges.

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The couple cut the cake using the Duke of Edinburgh’s Mountbatten sword, which had been a wedding gift from his father-in-law, George VI.

The wedding of 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth to her 26-year-old beau, Philip Mountbatten was one of the most significant and symbolic royal events of the 20th century.

Around 200 million people worldwide tuned into their radios for the ceremony which took place at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.

Winston Churchill called the wedding “a flash of color on the hard road we have to travel.”

The wedding breakfast, held at Buckingham Palace, was attended by 150 guests.

The menu included filet de sole Mountbatten, partridge, and as a dessert, bombe glacée Princess Elizabeth even before the cake was served.

The cake, which comes in a modest looking box states Presented to Mr C. Dickman by Princess Elizabeth Nov 20th 1947, will be sold on October 16.

It was inherited around 40 years ago and has been with the same Buckinghamshire family ever since.

Lambeth-born Cyril Dickman joined the palace in 1941 aged just 15 and was said to be a great favorite of the late queen, as well as Princess Diana.

Reports suggest Cyril started life at the palace watching out for fires on the roof of Buckingham Palace.

At the time of the royal wedding he would have been a 21-year-old ‘below stairs’ servant.

But he worked his way up to become the late queen’s Palace Steward, one of her most trusted helpers.

And when Merchant Ivory needed advice on how Anthony Hopkins should play the stiffly buttoned-up butler Mr Stevens in the 1993 film Remains of the Day, they called on the recently retired, Cyril.

Mr Hopkins later told The New York Times he couldn’t have done the part without him, saying: “Cyril taught me simple rules: Be polite, be efficient, be relaxed.”

He also gave the actor tips on how to iron the morning paper page by page and when to address his master as “m’lord” (on entering the room) and “sir” (thereafter).