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After Being Found Under a Bed, 77-Year-Old Slice of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s Wedding Cake Sells at Auction

Queen Elizabeth's wedding cake Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's four-tier wedding cake. 

Getty Images

After purchasing the couple a “delightful” dessert service, Polson was given a slice of the cake as a thank you. She kept it until her death in the 1980s, when it found its way under a bed with some of her other possessions. When found, the cake was still in its original presentation box, and came with a letter from Princess Elizabeth herself, dated November 1947, the same month as her wedding day.

“My husband and I are deeply touched to know that you shared in giving us such a delightful wedding present,” the future Queen wrote. (She would take the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, less than five years later.)

Royal Wedding Elizabeth and Philip Elizabeth and Philip on their wedding day, Nov. 20, 1947. Getty Images / Hulton Archive

“We are both enchanted with the dessert service,” the former Princess Elizabeth continued. “The different flowers and the beautiful coloring will, I know, be greatly admired by all who see it.”

The couple's cake was nine feet tall and weighed in at a whopping 500 pounds.

Polson’s family contacted Reeman Dansie earlier this year, and Grinter said Polson’s slice of cake was the first piece ever sold “in its completeness.”

“This one actually has its original contents which is very, very rare,” he said. “Bear in mind, it was produced at a time of rationing … They had the most magnificent cake made for them. I’ve seen photographs of it — it would fill half a room, it was absolutely enormous.”

Elizabeth and Philip’s cake consisted of four tiers and was laced with alcohol, the BBC reported.

Grinter admitted, however, that the cake was no longer in the best condition, saying, “I don’t think I’d particularly want to eat it, I must admit.”

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