Jonathan Ray

Does Her Majesty’s Sloe Gin pass the taste test?

  • From Spectator Life
Image: Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021

After the miserable, heart-wrenching year that she’s had, it would be little wonder if The Queen sought solace in alcohol. That the alcohol most likely to bring a smile to the regal chops might be the monarch’s own brand is perhaps more of a surprise.

The royal bean counters charged with refilling the post-Covid coffers must also be beaming for HM the Queen – whose favourite tipple is said to be Dubonnet and gin – has gone into the booze business big time and with huge success, with all proceeds going to the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity which conserves Her Majesty’s art treasures and makes them accessible to the public.

Apparently, the RCT has lost some £65m during the pandemic and has suffered a savage round of redundancies with even such senior flunkeys as the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures and Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of Art being obliged to collect their P45s.

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