When the royals raise a glass
WHILE Margaret Rhodes insists that the late Queen Mother’s fondness for a drink was exaggerated, she confirms that her aunt liked a gin and Dubonnet before lunch and that in the evenings the Queen Mother would have a dry Martini, often followed by a glass of champagne with her dinner.
So what is the tipple of choice of other Royal Family members?
The Queen also likes a gin and Dubonnet with two slices of lemon (and the pips removed) and plenty of ice.
The Queen is also partial to a sweet white Muscat of Red Stone from the Crimea in the Ukraine, which she enjoys at Christmas. She is not keen on champagne and only sips a drop – or pretends to – at toasts.
Prince Philip prefers to drink beer and was fond of Double Diamond when it was still being made.
Prince Charles loves Laphroaig malt whisky and even sells a special Highgrove edition of the Scotch from Islay in his Gloucestershire estate shop.
The Duke of York is teetotal, which was why a two-day trip to wine cellars in France organised by his then new wife Sarah in 1987, was somewhat wasted on him.
The Queen likes a gin and Dubonnet with two slices of lemon (and the pips removed)
Princess Anne also hardly drinks.
She prefers Coca-Cola on foreign trips, once claiming it “kills all known germs”.