Republican Alun Armstrong slices open head of Queen

The bizarre head-cutting ceremony took place at Sprout Arts, in Moyser Road, Furzedown, to mark the end of art exhibition by Phillippa Egerton.

Actor Alun Armstrong, famous for appearances in films like Sleepy Hollow and Braveheart, did the honours by plunging a knife into a head of Her Majesty which has been created out of cake.

Ms Egerton's exhibition of cake heads involved David Beckham being chopped up and eaten in an earlier ceremony.

The artist has built up a reputation on making the macabre cakes after creating St John the Baptist for a friend's birthday.

She has also created Tony Blair, David Cameron as well as local MP Sadiq Khan who gallantly offered to cut up his own head.

Ms Egerton, 67, a grandmother, of Thames Ditton, said: "Alun Armstrong is a republican and was therefore happy to cut up the Queen's head.

"It is people's responses which vary from a shout of delighted laughter to it's creepy I can't eat it that motivates the continued production of these heads.

"I've always believed that art can be fun as well as serious and the cake heads are both. A cake head can be taken as either a tribute or trophy."

Buckingham Palace refused to comment, except to confirm that the cutting up of an effigy of the Queen is not a crime, unlike defacing the royal head on coins which became high treason in the reign of Henry the Eighth.

The solo exhibition also featured Ms Egerton's prints and paintings of people in urban settings or sporting activities.

It takes her almost a week to create each cake, which is made out of fruit cake and baked slowly so it can be sculpted.

In the past she has been hired to make cakes of politicians for Labour Party events, having once worked for Battersea Labour Party as an administrator.

She also takes orders if people provide their own photographs, but said surprisingly has not had much up-take from people wanting to eat their own heads.

Visit phillipaegerton.co.uk and sproutarts.com for more information.