Royalty and the Art of Drinking Well

Celebrating 70 years on the throne.

As Her Majesty The Queen celebrates 70 years on the throne, we thought it only right to raise a proverbial glass to her and discover what she and the family might be drinking in celebration of this momentous occasion.

While we’re not usually ones to indulge in Royal spotting or red top gossiping, we do believe in the importance of family, and especially a good family get-together. We love any excuse for a knees-up, and we usually find that a-little-of-what-you-fancy goes down rather well on these occasions. As *ahem* ‘professional purveyors of booze’, we also think that it’s only well and proper for us to find out what everyone else is drinking, and this sometimes means going all the way to the top.

It has long been rumoured that the Queen’s daily drinking habits would put even the most hardened bartender to shame, but we’re going to put the record straight on this matter. Fortunately for the Queen’s health (and the smooth running of the Commonwealth) this story has now been well and truly put to bed by her former chef, Darren McGrady. He quite rightly pointed out that “she’d be pickled if she drank that much,”. He did however confirm another rather more credible story about the Queen’s fondness for a Dubonnet and gin before lunch – a tradition she apparently inherited from the late Queen Mother. This rather fun little concoction is well worth trying for yourself – and even if it doesn’t replace your daily G&T habit, you’ll certainly be in great company by drinking it. 

The word from Buckingham Palace is that it’s a simple 2:1 mix of Dubonnet and Dry Gin (our classic London Dry has you covered on this front), served over ice with a slice of lemon. Perhaps you could even ask your staff to remove the pips and use Malvern water ice cubes for the fully authentic royal experience? Served before lunch, this drink makes a rather delicious aperitif, and despite not using a mixer, it actually contains fewer units than a double G&T.

HRH Charles, Prince of Wales

Continuing on the gin theme (naturally), and following the royal bloodline, we feel that His Royal Highness Prince Charles’s love of a well-made gin martini makes him very much the kind person we’d like to have around to ours one evening (the invite’s always there if you fancy it one day Your Royal Highness?). Prince Charles is also known to be a big scotch fan, and we’re not ones to argue with that! In fact, he sells a very special Highgrove Edition of Laphroiag Whisky through his Estate’s shop.

HRH Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall

His wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall comes from a family of winemakers and is now president of the U.K.’s Vineyard Association. Speaking in 2017 she said, “People always ask me how I became involved in it all, well, first of all, I love wine, but secondly, my father was in the wine business, so I was brought up as a child drinking wine and water rather like the French”. This story echos that of our founder, Edward Kain, whose own father was also involved in the wine trade. We could easily see these two getting along like a couple of peas in a pod (or perhaps that should be ‘grapes on a vine’!).

Back to the Royals – and Camilla in particular – who is famously rumoured to have said “I need a gin and tonic!” after meeting Prince William for the first time. While this particular story may be somewhat apocryphal, we can certainly relate to the sentiment!

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Another more recent addition to the clan, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex also gets a big thumbs up from us when it comes to classy drinking; she was quoted in 2017 as saying “…if it’s cocktails, I love a spicy tequila cocktail, Negroni, or good Scotch (neat).” …now that’s a sophisticated selection of satiating sips not to be scoffed at!

So, whatever you fancy topping up your glass with – whether it’s a Gin and Tonic, Scotch, a Negroni or just a glass of fizz, we look forward to celebrating with you and the rest of the country and raising a toast to you, Your Majesty, this summer.