3-039-108 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Marriage of Princess Louise: Royal Wedding Cake, 1871. Cake made for the wedding of Princess Louise (fourth daughter of Queen Victoria) and her husband John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, engraving from a photograph by Messrs. Hills and Saunders. 'The principal wedding-cake, that placed on the table at the breakfast or luncheon in the Waterloo Chamber, was...a magnificent work of the confectioner's art, made by her Majesty's chief confectioner at Windsor Castle. It was 5 ft. 4 in. high, with a diameter of 2 ft. 6 in. The base was decorated with white satin, bearing coats of arms, the initials "L. L." entwined in blue, wreaths of orange-blossom, and small vases containing the same flowers. Within an alcove above the base was a fountain, with doves drinking, and around this miniature temple were four statues, representing Agriculture, Fine Arts, Commerce, and Science. The upper part was crowned by a figure of a vestal virgin. All the figures and ornaments were of sugar'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.