How to drink like a British Royal - from Harry's favorite beer to The King's $48 gin
From the gin the King travels with to Harry's love of beer, here are the family's most-loved alcoholic tipples.
They say it’s always 5pm somewhere and, according to sources, the Royal Family enjoy a cocktail or beer when relaxing behind closed doors as much as anyone else, including the former matriarch of the family, the late Queen herself.
Indeed, The Queen issued various alcohol brands a coveted Royal Warrant, which can only be earned after being served in a royal household for five years or more. Some of the names on the warrant list include Johnnie Walker Scotch and Bollinger Champagne.
However, according to her former personal chef, neither brand was The Queen’s favorite tipple.
Darren McGrady explained in one of his YouTube videos that Her Majesty enjoyed a gin cocktail made with one part gin and two-part Dubonnet, which is a French aperitif, topped with some ice and a slice of lemon.
The drink was close to The Queen’s heart as it was apparently the Queen Mother's favorite choice too.
Last summer, just two months prior to the Queen’s death, Buckingham Palace announced it was launching a small-batch gin using ingredients from the monarch’s garden including lemon and mulberry leaves.
The $48 gin was such a hit that it sold out completely eight hours after it launched. However, it’s since been restocked.
When it comes to gin it’s very much like mother, like son as King Charles is also partial to a good gin cocktail – martini to be precise.
King Charles is said to like his cocktail "wet" which means it is made up of equal parts gin and dry vermouth, and his friend Count Tibor Kálnoky revealed in the documentary, The Real Windsors: The Outspoken Heir, King Charles III, that “He likes a martini before dinner, that’s for sure.”
And just like his mother, he also has his own brand of gin, though his is organic and made using herbs from his beloved Highgrove Gardens.
The King clearly takes his gin seriously as according to reports he travels with his cocktails pre-mixed to his specification, ready to be poured into his own martini glass (that also travels with him) whenever he may need a tipple.
And as for his wife, Queen Camilla, she’s said to be partial to a glass of red wine.
When it comes to The King’s sons, though they’re famously at loggerheads over most things, one thing they do share in common is their love of a pint of beer.
However, future king William also on occasion partakes in something a little stronger, a cocktail called "the kamikaze’" William described the drink, which is made by mixing equal parts vodka, lime juice and triple sec, as “silent but deadly.”
His wife, Catherine, likes the odd Guinness but is more likely to be seen sipping on a chilled glass of white wine whilst Harry’s wife Meghan prefers red.
Back in 2012 Meghan explained to Today that in her youth she wasn’t particularly fussy about what she drank, though that has changed.
“At the end of a long day, there is nothing I enjoy more than a glass of wine. I used to be of the ‘it doesn’t matter, so long as it’s red’ persuasion, but then I grew up, and so did my palate.”
