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For more than 120 years this piece of chocolate lay in the attic of an English manor house
Photo: National Trust / dpa
A bar of chocolate that the British Queen Victoria sent to her troops more than 120 years ago was found undone in its original tin.
The chocolate belonged to the English aristocrat, Sir Henry Edward Paston-Bedingfield, who fought in the Second Boer War and was discovered in his helmet case in his family's home, the 500-year-old Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, east England.
The National Trust believes the soldier kept the helmet and chocolate as a memento of his participation in the war.
The items came to light after the death of his daughter Frances Greathead in 2020.
It is a rare find.
From 1899 the Boers and Great Britain fought a three-year war in what is now South Africa.
The most important motive for the Boer War was the discovery of the high-yield diamond and gold deposits.
Queen Victoria ordered 100,000 chocolate bars to improve morale among the troops.
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On the tin lid, in the Queen's handwriting, is the message "I wish you a Happy New Year"
Photo: National Trust / dpa
Britain's three main chocolate makers, Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree, were run by religious societies that opposed the war.
They declined to take payment for the order and packed the chocolate in unbranded cans.
However, the Queen insisted that the British soldiers should know where the candy came from, so the makers gave in.
mjm / Reuters