This is What Royal Wedding Cakes Looked Like Over the Years
Updated: Feb. 04, 2023
If you get excited about 220 pounds of fruitcake, you're in the right place.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Though Princess Diana seldom swayed from her healthy diet, the couple celebrated their big day with an architecturally-inspired fruitcake. The geometric tiers were supported by tiny columns and decorated with the couple’s coat of arms along with other royal insignia. The cake weighed 200 pounds and was designed to serve over 1,000 guests. Yum!
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip
To reflect the grand scale of the wedding for Britain’s future queen, there needed to be a grand cake. This gargantuan dessert weighed close to 500 pounds and was dubbed the “10,000 Mile Cake.” Each of the four tiers were hand-decorated with intricately detailed carvings and floral details. The flavor? Fruitcake. Though, Queen Elizabeth actually prefers chocolate!
Princess Anne and Captain Mark
In 1973, Princess Anna and Captain Mark Phillips celebrated with wedding bells and a gorgeous five-tier cake. Keeping with tradition, their guests dined on a brandy-soaked fruitcake covered with royal icing. Fun fact: The baker employed to make the cake was from the royal armed forces!
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel
Stepping away from the Brits for a moment, Sweden’s beloved royal couple Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel had a stunning wedding cake to celebrate their marriage in 2010. The 10-foot-tall cake was composed of 10 clover-shaped tiers—a symbol of luck for the newlyweds. Don’t miss these classic Swedish recipes.
Princess Maragret and Antony Armstrong-Jones
The late ’60s were all about flower power—and Princess Margret’s cake (tastefully) reflected this trend. The couple’s cake was topped with a dreamy, cascading bouquet of fresh flowers that trickled down the ornate cake.
Prince Andrew and Sara “Fergie” Ferguson
The royal couple employed Liverpool baker David MacCarfrae to bake up a 12-foot fruitcake. He then decorated the layers by hand with ornate layers of royal icing. The epic dessert was topped with his pick of fresh flowers. Feeling inspired? Learn how to decorate a cake.
Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle won’t be the first to break the fruitcake wedding tradition. In 1999, Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones served a dark and decadent cake—Devil’s food cake. Rumor has it that this cake was the only wedding cake to be cleared clean! Try our copycat recipe here.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
Sticking with tradition, this hefty 220-pound cake was of with aged, brandy-soaked fruitcake and covered in a layer of white fondant. (A much cleaner style than hand-piped royal icing in years past!) Though this wasn’t the only cake served at the reception. Prince William and Kate commissioned a non-traditional groom’s cake made of chocolate biscuit cake.
Prince William and Kate kept the top tier of their official wedding cake for a surprising reason.
Originally Published: May 11, 2018
