LONDON -- Prince Charles and his bride Diana, both of them holding the groom's ceremonial sword, Wednesday sliced into an official wedding cake composed of five tiers that was 5 feet high and weighed 225 pounds.
The cake was delivered to Buckingham Palace Tuesday, though Chief Petty Officer Ken Fraser began mixing it 14 weeks ago at the Royal Navy cooking school.
Each of the five tiers is decorated with pastel-shaded plaques of buildings or crests linked with the royal couple. The top tier, with 'C' and 'D' initials embellished by grapes and doves, also supports a vase holding a cascade of white roses, white orchids, lilies of the valley and fuchsias.
The cake's ingredients included 40 pounds each of marzipan and icing and 175 pounds of currents, sultanas, raisins, cherries, mixed peel, butter, brown sugar, eggs, almonds, treacle, spices, flour, lemon, orange, brandy and rum.
London newspapers put the cost of the cake at $10,000 but that price included the solid silver pillars, the salaries of the navy cooks, and all the other peripheral helpers who iced it and delivered it.
