At a glorious tea party hosted at Highgrove House in King Charles’ honour on Monday, His Majesty was seen slicing into three tiers of a towering Victoria Sponge cake as a local choir sang ‘Happy Birthday’.
The King is expected to continue the festivities for his 75th birthday with an intimate family party at Clarence House on Tuesday.
The monarch, who was born at Buckingham Palace at 9:14 PM on 14 November 1948 to the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, will mark his first birthday since the coronation in May surrounded by his royal family – and no doubt with a healthy dose of birthday cake to sweeten the occasion.
Birthday cakes are no small order for the royal kitchens. Former royal chef Darren McGrady previously revealed that the late Queen requested the same decadent chocolate fudge sponge cake every year; and it swiftly became known as “the” cake by royal family members who requested the same indulgent treat on their birthdays.
In light of King Charles’ 75th birthday, HELLO! revisits some of the most spectacular birthday cakes presented to the head of state in his childhood.
Unearthed photographs from the King’s third birthday show a mind-blowing circular cake adorned with toy soldiers and Disney characters formed from fondant icing.
The birthday cake, which was presented by Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning, was dressed with three taper candles engraved with intricate designs and piped with a rich buttercream icing.
The following year, a then-Prince Charles’ fourth birthday cake could have rivalled that of a royal wedding. The cake, which was made by a well-known London confectioner in 1952, was surmounted by a galleon in full sails which read: “Prince Charles 4 today.”
Toy figures manned the ship, which carried a cargo of sweets and chocolate coins. The towering cake also featured a sea of frothy piped buttercream to mimic the choppy waves, while the centre-piece appeared to be mounted on a sturdy sponge base iced with Latin writing in delicate piped lettering.
If you’re wondering what it takes to bake a royal-approved wedding cake for a member of the monarchy, HELLO! previously spoke to Fiona Cairns after she whipped up the Prince and Princess of Wales’ spellbinding wedding cake for their nuptials in 2011.
The eight-tiered fruit cake took six weeks to craft, breaking tradition from typical royal wedding cakes after Fiona opted for a sugar paste icing. “It was a softer look, a more romantic look,” she told us.
As for keeping the famous fairytale cake under wraps until the big reveal, Fiona said: “We’d all signed a confidentiality [agreement] with Clarence House, so it was very difficult to keep it a secret. We couldn’t tell anyone at all. We couldn’t tell our children or anyone at work except for the people who were going to work on it, and then they couldn’t tell their partners.”
source: hello magazine
