đ˘ âNo one expected this from a future QueenâŚâ Princess Catherine quietly baked her own birthday cake after the hardest year of her life â a simple act that touched millions around the world.
The Princess of Wales celebrates special occasions with a meaningful cake
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Atradition that many of us look forward to on our birthdays is the  birthday cake. Whether we spend hours in the kitchen baking up a storm, we have a special  cake made to celebrate the big day or we revert back to the classic Colin the Caterpillar cake, there is nothing more special than blowing out the candles on your special day and diving into a slice of delicious cake. The tradition of buying, baking, or bringing a cake to a special occasion is one the royal family also abide by.
Princess Kate celebrates her 42nd birthday today, reminding us of all the occasions she has celebrated with a special cake, starting with her own birthday cake. Though not much is known about Kateâs personal favourite cake on her birthday, we know that the homemade route is her preferred and it has been said that the princess loves to make it about her children, even on her birthday.
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Kate celebrates special occasions with a cake
Vanity Fair reported that the Princess celebrates her birthday in private at Kensington Palace and that âKateâs not into big birthday celebrations, but [Prince] George and [Princess] Charlotte adore birthday cake, so there will be a special tea party at the Palace with candles and presents.â Meanwhile, Woman & Home reported that her low-key celebrations will likely include a sweet feast of jelly and ice cream with the children.
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When it comes to her childrenâs  birthday cakes, Princess Kate gets her apron on. During the 2019 edition of Mary Berryâs A Berry Royal Christmas, Kate revealed she âstays up until midnightâ to make her childrenâs birthday cakes â something that has now become quite the tradition in their household. A homemade cake is never too rustic for a royal. In fact, the sweet tradition was repaid on Motherâs Day when William and Kate shared a photo on their Instagram of a delicious Victoriaâs sponge cake made by George, Charlotte and Louis for their mother.
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The jam and buttercream-filled cake was decorated with piped icing and sprinkles, prompting one royal follower to comment: âGeorge, Charlotte, Louis, youâd get a handshake from Mary Berry! Happy Motherâs Day!â. William and Kate also ensure there are gorgeous cakes to mark occasions besides members of the familyâs birthdays. The royal pair had a delicious fruitcake made to mark Prince Georgeâs baptism at the Chapel Royal at St Jamesâs Palace in October 2013.
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The most special part of Prince Georgeâs cake was its traditional origin. As per British custom, William and Kate froze the top layer of their wedding cake, which is customarily a fruitcake, and served it to guests at Prince Georgeâs baptism. The Prince and Princess of Walesâ wedding cake was quite the affair. The couple celebrated their big day with a bespoke eight-tiered cake created by cake designer Fiona Cairns.
Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, Fiona said that the cake, which took six weeks to make, was always going to be fruitcake. âWe knew it was going to be a fruitcake because thatâs what weâd been briefed to do and weâre sort of known for fruit cake. Then it had to be designed and we had to visit the picture gallery in Buckingham Palace to get the proportions right and where it was going to be [placed],â the cake designer said.
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Fiona revealed: âIt amazes people that we hadnât actually seen the finished cake assembled until the day before. So you can imagine how stressful the whole was because weâd worked it all out to great detail.
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âWe had assembled mock-ups or parts of it and we knew it was going to work, but we hadnât actually physically done it on that beautiful bespoke glass stand that we had made for it in the middle of the picture gallery in Buckingham Palace. We didnât see the whole thing ourselves until we finished it lunchtime the day before the wedding.â The white  cake featured stunning flowers made from  sugar paste, with the lace of Kateâs Sarah Burton gown inspiring the design. Fiona told us: âYes, that was part of the brief but we werenât told it was part of her dress. It was amazing when I saw her [Kate] in the Abbey. I thought, âOh I recognise that lace, Iâve seen that before!â We were trying to copy it.â
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Kate has also been photographed with many a cake during public engagements. The then-Duchess of Cambridge was seen cutting a cake on a visit to the Robin Hood Primary School to celebrate ten years of The Royal Horticultural Society campaign for school gardening in 2017. In the same year, the mother-of-three was pictured marvelling at a cake with a cycling design during a one-day visit to Luxembourg at Place de Clairfontaine for a cycling festival.
