Man selling Princess Diana’s wedding cake at charity auction aims to raise over £2,000

Gerry Layton, 62, bought the large piece of cake, which is covered in marzipan and features a royal coat-of-arms at an auction in August. It was expected to fetch between £300 and £500, but after a flurry of bidding Mr Layton paid £1,850.

It is from one of the 23 official wedding cakes that were made for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday, July 29 in 1981.

The self-proclaimed royalist, who lives in Leeds, is now planning to sell the cake at the Glitter Ball at Rudding Park on May 6 and donate the proceeds to Martin House Hospice.

He originally planned to add it to his estate, as it will be sold off after his death and 70 per cent will go to 26 charities.

He said “Martin House is one of the charities involved, but I thought ‘why wait so long?’

“What better charity to support than a hospice for children? That’s a good local cause.

“The proceeds were going to charity in any event and I think a charity ball would be a fitting place to sell it.”

He added: “It’s my firm belief that if I held onto it for nine years, until the 50th anniversary of their wedding, and put the cake up for auction it would make an absolute fortune.

“But I’m not in it for the money.”

When Mr Layton bought the cake last summer, he thought about having a “tiny nibble”, but he has managed to resist the temptation.

“I am forever buying slices of Marks and Spencers sliced fruit cake because I have these sugar cravings. That is keeping me away from it,” he said.

“I’ve hidden that cake in the house, where it’s difficult to get hold of, so I’m not tempted to have a bite.”

The slice of cake was given to Moya Smith, a member of the Queen Mother’s household at Clarence House, after the wedding and she preserved the topping with cling film before her family sold it to a collector in 2008.

Mr Layton, a former member of the 1960s band The Outer Limits, who now charters a boat providing luxury tours of the River Thames in London, forked out a total of £2,170 at the auction last summer after he bought the cake and paid the buyers' premium.