Slice of King Charles's wedding cake up for auction

A slice of wedding cake from the wedding of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla 17 years ago is to be sold at auction, along with an 11-year-old piece from the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The two slices of the historic cakes come in souvenir tins, complete with royal cypher, and each have pre-auction estimates of £400 to £600.

They will go under the hammer at Keys auctioneers in Aylsham, Norfolk, as part of the three-day Fine Sale which begins on November 23.

The king, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, married Camilla Parker-Bowles at Windsor on April 9, 2005.

The dedication service took place in St George’s Chapel and the reception was in Windsor Castle’s state apartments.

The wedding cake was made by Dawn Blunden, owner of Sophisticake in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.

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Prince William married Kate, now the Princess of Wales, at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, with the reception taking place at Buckingham Palace.

The cake, an eight-tier fruit cake decorated with Lambeth-piped sugar paste flowers, was made by designer Fiona Cairns of Fleckney, Leicestershire.

“With the accession of a new king, and with Prince William subsequently becoming the new Prince of Wales, interest in royal memorabilia is very high at the moment, and we expect there to be brisk bidding for these two slices of history,” said Tim Blyth, director at Keys.

Kings Charles III coins go into production — in pictures

The first coins featuring the portrait of King Charles III are going into production at the royal mint in Pontyclun, Wales. All photos: PA

The coins will go into circulation on December 28.

Artist Martin Jennings, who created the king's likeness, prepares the first coins.

The king's likeness used on the coins has been personally approved by the monarch.

Martin Jennings with one of the first coins produced.

In keeping with tradition, the king's portrait faces to the left, the opposite direction to the previous monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

Other lots on sale at the auction include a Christmas card from King Charles and Diana, signed by them both as well as the young Princes William and Harry, which has a pre-auction estimate of £200 to £300.

There is also a photo album with pictures of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh and members of the royal family, mainly taken on board HM Yacht Britannia during royal visits, with a pre-auction estimate of £300 to £400.

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A signed photo of the late queen and Prince Philip dating from 1980 and a boxed Fortnum and Mason Christmas pudding from 2002, complete with a Christmas card from the late queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, are also up for auction.

The royal lots will go under the hammer during the first day of the three-day sale.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo

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Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto

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On sale: now

Slice of King Charles's wedding cake up for auction

Piece of cake comes in souvenir tin and is expected to fetch hundreds of pounds

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