And he remembers as though it was yesterday his meeting with 19-year-old Lady Diana when he showed her the blueprint for his masterpiece and she approved it.

The former Royal Navy chef who has retired to Surfleet was touched by how excited and nervous the young bride-to-be was.

He said: "I made the official wedding cake when I was teaching at the Royal Navy Cookery School in Chatham. We were asked to supply it because of Prince Charles' naval background.

"A few years before that he told me that a cake I made for the commissioning of HMS Bulwark was the nicest cake he'd seen and he had a slice on the day.

"So there I was with the design to show Diana and she was such a young girl, very shy and very nice. She was every bit as excited and nervous as I was.

"She said she wanted a cake, not a monument, and she approved the blueprint.

"It took 14 weeks to design and make, stood 5ft 4in tall and was 3ft at its widest point on the bottom layer. It was a rich fruit cake and just preparing and soaking the fruit took three days.

"I marzipaned and iced it (with royal icing, naturally!), decorating it all myself. I'm very proud because it's something nobody else has done."

David went on to transform the second tier of the wedding cake into Prince William's christening cake, and then to concoct the young prince's first birthday cake too.

By the time Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, David had left the Navy and opened The Celebration Cake Centre down the road in Rochester.

Nine years later David started teaching catering at West Kent College and two of his students there are now regular TV chefs – James Tanner of Ready Steady Cook and Mark Sergeant, executive chef at Claridges, who works on-screen with Gordon Ramsay.

David has now swapped his wooden spoons for golf clubs, playing regularly at Spalding, and celebrated his ruby wedding with wife Hannah this year.

But he still cooks and will bake for special occasions. This year he was proud to make a wedding cake for his own son.

David will be giving a talk to Pinchbeck Viewpoint on Thursday, September 20, at Pinchbeck Village Hall at 2.15pm. The meeting is open to everyone and admission is £2 on the door.