The royal sommelier reports
Martini is forbidden – the Queen allows herself a glass of wine instead
Queen Elizabeth II’s fondness for a small drink has been known for decades.
© getty / Anwar Hussein / WireImage
Actually, the Queen’s doctors have imposed a strict alcohol ban. But the monarch does not quite adhere to it. That doesn’t make your sommelier’s life any easier.
This news is likely to have worried many royalists last month: As the magazine “Vanity Fair” reported in mid-October, doctors are said to have advised the Queen to refrain from alcohol in the future – with the exception of special occasions.
It has long been known about Queen Elizabeth II that she maintains a strict drinking routine. In 2012 the daily newspaper “The Independent” revealed that the monarch consumes exactly four drinks during the day. A gin with Dubonnet before lunch and a glass of wine with lunch. In the evening she has a dry martini and a glass of champagne.
The martini in particular is said to have been close to the heart of the queen. But that was precisely what she was forbidden to do. This took the Queen on one of the few joys that she had left after the death of her beloved husband.
The Queen can’t help it
But the 95-year-old is not quite keeping her hands off alcohol: As the royal sommelier Demetri Walters reports in the “Daily Mail”, the queen should definitely enjoy one or two drops. Although the Queen can no longer drink much, she continues to have a glass of wine with her meal.
The job as a royal cupbearer doesn’t get any easier: Precisely because the regentess drinks very little, she is all the more picky about the year.
Walters is an independent consultant who works for various clients, including the royal family. He has also worked as a beer sommelier for Prince Philip. The Queen’s long-time husband is said to have had his own idea of the tolerability of alcohol and medication. He was of the opinion that wine in his old age was no longer good for him. That’s why he only wanted to drink beer.
But the queen also seems to have a mind of her own: Against the advice of the doctors, she allows herself a good drop. Anyone who last saw her public appearances can be sure that it has not harmed her.
Source used:“Daily Mail”, “The Independent”, “Vanity Fair”