If that sounds ridiculous, the ridiculousness of the purchase can’t be diminished by the fact that the slice was from the wedding cake of Philip Mountbatten a.k.a. Prince Philip and Elizabeth Mountbatten-Windsor a.k.a. Queen Elizabeth 2 that was dished out to guests on Nov 20, 1947.
Neither can the ridiculousness be enhanced by the fact that this collector of royal garbage paid £2,200 – a frosted ₹2.35 lakh – for what should have found its way in the dustbin of both a kitchen and history.
But we are greatly relieved to know that the anonymous buyer is not Indian. Many Indians, especially the sort who have plenty of dosh to waste, lurvv everything ‘British royalty’.
Whether it’s knowing the name of Anne Mountbatten-Windsor’s favourite horse to what tie Charles Mountbatten-Windsor wore when he visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1980, desi BuckPal bhakts are a different breed by themselves.
But this slice of toxicity – that the auction house flogged as ‘a little time capsule of glorious cake’ – like monarchy in 2024 itself, is well past its sell-by date. Even though, clearly, it was sold to some duffer with good dough to throw.