An 86-year-old Easter egg given to an 'angel' by her beau on their engagement is set to melt bidders' hearts at auction.

The Little Miss Muffet Pascalls' chocolate Easter egg with rose gold paper and blue bow has been described as the most romantic Easter egg in the world by Hansons Auctioneers.

The gift will go under the hammer on March 19, 2024 - a year after it was last put up for auction.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons, said: "This egg was treasured for life to honour true love. It was given by Jack Carter to his 17-year-old sweetheart Joyce Angell when they became engaged on April 16, 1938.

"Jack, who said he'd married an angel due to Joyce's maiden name, wanted to give her a special gift. With World War Two looming, luxury chocolate was such an extravagance Joyce couldn't bring herself to eat it. That combined with its romantic importance in her life made her treasure it forever.

"When Joyce died, aged 84, in 2004 she'd kept her engagement gift for 66 years. When Jack passed away in 2012, three weeks short of his 96th birthday, the chocolate egg was still in his care. Together they had looked after it for 76 years.

"Jack presented the Easter egg to Joyce at a wedding. Her sister, Iris, tied the knot on April 16, 1938. The following year on November 4, 1939 Joyce, then 18, married 22-year-old Jack at The Tabernacle (formerly United Reform Church) in Church Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Chocolate Easter egg from 1938, saved for a lifetime by Joyce Carter (image by Mark Laban - Hansons)

"The couple, who were both teenagers when they met at Trowbridge's United Reform Church in 1934, enjoyed 64 years of happily married life. They had one son and two grandchildren and were fulfilled by a life of giving to others, hard work and simple pleasures. Joyce worked at a cloth factory and both did voluntary work.

"In 1989 their 50th wedding anniversary was marked in their local paper. The cutting stated that Jack, who worked for Hattersley Heaton engineering for 34 years and served in the Navy during WW2, said he'd 'married an angel'. The couple put their happy marriage down to love, understanding, caring and faith."

The egg was also put up for auction last year.

The chocolate egg was inherited by their son, who lives in Warwickshire.

He said: "I was born in 1944 and for as long as I can remember the egg had been in a bedroom cupboard in its original packaging, after which we kept it in the coolest cupboard in our home. After 86 years in my family's care, I feel the time has come to part with it. I hope a collector or museum will preserve it for future generations."



A 1989 newspaper cutting marking Joyce and Jack's 50th wedding anniversary (image via Hansons)