How to make a royally good Dubonnet cocktail

The Platinum Jubilee celebrations look like boom time for the drinks industry, with various whisky, gin and port brands all releasing special commemorative bottles. But there’s one curious omission: Dubonnet, a liqueur that is said to be the Queen’s favourite. According to a spokesman from parent company Pernod Ricard, there’s nothing planned to celebrate 70 years on the throne of its most famous fan.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a flurry of activity. I picture the Dubonnet promotional department as two old Frenchmen asleep by a telex machine in the back of a dusty café in Béziers. But then again, who needs le marketing when you’ve got the Queen? Say the word ‘Dubonnet’ and immediately you think of the royal family, just as the words ‘Harveys Bristol Cream’ will conjure up images of vicars. According to the former royal chef Darren McGrady, every morning, until very recently, the Queen had a gin and Dubonnet at around 11 and then would move on to other drinks.