The British Royal Family's Favorite Drinks

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Of the 43 countries ruled by monarchs, the British royal family — aka the House of Windsor — is arguably the most famous. In 2006, then-Prince Charles said about his family: "I think we're a soap opera," in Jeremy Paxman's book "On Royalty," and he has a point. From the groundbreaking broadcast of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation to the pomp and ceremony of a royal wedding, people cannot get enough of the Windsors.

Although they are most often seen in public at formal engagements and asking ordinary people what they do for a living, or cheering on Brits at a range of sporting events, the royals are human beings too. They enjoy putting their feet up with a glass of something just like the rest of us. Some members have an impressive appetite for alcoholic "drinkypoos," while others wouldn't dream of touching a drop — but what are the British royal family's favorite drinks? Let's line 'em up ...

King Charles III had to wait a record-breaking 70 yearsto ascend the British throne. During that time, Charles has been busy; studying at Cambridge, marrying Diana Spencer, becoming a father to William and Harry, divorcing Diana, and marrying Camilla, before finally being crowned king in 2023. 

Like every good Brit, Charles loves a good cup of tea. According to facts published by his private office in 2018 for his 70th birthday, he has a cup of Darjeeling with milk and honey instead of lunch. Charles also loves a wet, rather than a dirty martini, which has equal doses of gin and dry vermouth, every evening before dinner. In fact, he is so particular about it that he travels with a kit — including a glass – to make sure it's perfect every time. 

For many years, Camilla Parker-Bowles was branded "the other woman" after Princess Diana's bombshell BBC "Panorama," interview, in which she described her marriage to Charles as "a bit crowded." The 1970s on-off romance between Camilla and Charles started again in 1986 before the royal couple went public in 1999. Two years after Diana's death, the British public wanted to know more about Camilla, who married Charles in 2005, including what she likes to drink.

Camilla's father was involved in the wine business, so she drank wine and water like many French children, according to comments she made during the UK Vineyard Association's 50th anniversary. In a 2022 interview, she told her son Tom Parker-Bowles her last meal would include a "really good glass of red claret. And, seeing it's my last supper, probably two," per The Express. 

One of the most popular members of the British royal family in the United States, William was named Prince of Wales in 2022. Alongside his wife Kate, William is seen as the younger, fresher face of the British monarchy. Between 2010 and 2013, he and Kate lived on the island of Anglesey where he enjoyed a beer in the local pub before taking up their royal duties.

William is also partial to cider, along with an occasional cocktail — he told the owner of a Birmingham street food restaurant that his favorite, the kamikaze, was "silent but deadly," according to The Independent. In his youth, William reportedly enjoyed the "treasure chest" cocktail from the exclusive Mahiki Club London. Costing around $174, it's a blend of champagne, brandy and peach liquor, served in a wooden chest.

Kate Middleton was just another student at St. Andrews University in Scotland when she caught Prince William's eye in 2001. A decade later, they married in Westminster Abbey and Kate sealed her place as the new "people's princess." There have been plenty of insights into how she kicks back since then. Like her father-in-law, Kate loves a good cup of tea, only in her case it's Earl Grey with a dash of honey. 

She also has a "brutally chilled" glass of chardonnay, according to The Daily Mail while cooking an evening meal. Although Kate has been snapped with a pint of Guinness for St. Patrick's Day, she's also partial to spicy margaritas and her favorite cocktail — a blend of champagne, vodka, and passionfruit juice known as a "crack baby" — was served at her wedding.

As second in line to the British throne after his father, there's a lot of interest in Prince George, the eldest of William and Kate's three children. While his parents have done much to shield the trio from the media, from time to time glimpses emerge of their family life. In 2023, one story shed light on Prince George's favorite fruity drink.

British TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp told The Express newspaper how his parents had given Princess Kate a crate of home-made apple juice after she and Kemp worked together on a mental health project. He said: "She was like, 'Oh my God! Please can you say thank you to your mum and we need some more of that apple juice because George is obsessed with it. He keeps saying mum, 'I want the apple juice.'"

As a child, Prince Harry brought tears to everyone's eyes when he and William walked behind their mother Diana's coffin on the day of her funeral. Although no longer an official "working" royal since 2020, Harry is one of the most recognizable members of the Windsor family, hitting the headlines as much for his private life as his charity work.

In a 2021 episode of "The Late Late Show with James Corden," Harry sipped afternoon tea on an open-topped bus — but a couple of years earlier, he was spotted in a pub close to his and Meghan's then-home Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, enjoying a couple pints of beer. In his younger, wilder days, Harry was a fan of the classic combo Red Bull and vodka, though his favorite brand of the spirit was reported to be Ciroc Ultra.

Fans of the series "Suits" knew Meghan Markle. The rest of the world quickly caught up before she and Harry tied the knot in 2018. The previous year, just before the couple announced their engagement, Meghan closed down her blog The Tig, which contained details of some of her favorite tipples.

According to Bustle, in one post, she wrote about enjoying a "glass of rosé or crisp Sauvignon Blanc," as well as a cocktail she called The TIG Cup. It comprised gin mixed with ginger ale or lemonade, spices, and fruit. It wasn't the Duchess of Sussex's only preferred drink. "God, do I love wine; a beautiful full red or a crisp white. But if it's cocktails, I love a spicy tequila cocktail, negroni, or good scotch — neat," she told The New Potato, per Harper's Bazaar.

An icon in every sense, the world fell in love with Diana: The shy young woman and her fairy-tale marriage. When that ended bitterly in divorce, she became more popular than ever, and her tragic death in 1997 has not dented that affection. People are fascinated by Diana, though when it comes to her favorite drinks, despite that superstar royal status, she was remarkably ordinary.

Her former chef Darren McGrady revealed she was a fan of juicing,had a glass of something freshly squeezed every breakfast, and wasn't above making her own cup of coffee, which she took black. Diana didn't drink much alcohol but enjoyed peach Bellinis during a night out, disguised as a man, with Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, according to The Daily Mail.

On September 8, 2022, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96, bringing an end to her 70-year reign. She famously pledged to devote herself to a life of service in 1947, and encountered thousands of people during her time as monarch. While Elizabeth wasn't quite as media-friendly as some members of her family, details about what she liked to drink offer a revealing hint.

When it came to a cup of tea, Prue Leith of "The Great British Bake Off" discovered the hard way how Elizabeth II preferred it. "She got weak lemony tea, when what she wanted was strong, black tea. I've felt bad ever since, but there it was," she told Tatler. The Queen was also fond of a cocktail, and her favorite was a Dubonnet — a French spiced, fortified wine — and gin, according to Country & Town House.

While we might take his portrayal in "The Crown" with a pinch of salt, Prince Philip's habit of saying whatever was on his mind landed him in hot water on many occasions. Despite his royal status as the duke of Edinburgh, Philip, who died in 2021, was more down to earth than many people believed, something that was reflected in his top tipple.

Prince Philip didn't drink much hard alcoholbut he was a beer man, and his particular favorite was Manchester brand Boddingtons — famous for its string of tongue-in-cheek ads. The duke was also fond of an occasional glass of whisky and ensured a bottle of Famous Grouse was at hand in all palaces, as well as the royal train. 

As the glamorous younger sister of Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret always trod her own path. Where the Queen was devoted to duty, Margaret loved the social whirl and sometimes had a gin and tonic or glass of wine when out and about. But her real love was The Famous Grouse whisky.

Archive letters revealed the young Princess Margaret preferred wine to a glass of chilled champagne, and enjoyed a gin and tonic or a whisky and soda. But, as she grew older, she would refuse any other whisky than The Famous Grouse. According to him, only the Malvern Water brand was permitted to dilute it – but a former footman claimed that, when bottles ran dry, "he would occasionally top up an empty bottle with tap water and she appeared not to notice."

In the 1980s, Charles' younger brother Andrew — who took his nickname "Randy Andy" and ran with it — was rarely out of the tabloids. Although as the BBC revealed, he's a less popular figure now, Prince Andrew's wild past has nothing to do with drinking. During a 2012 visit to New Zealand, he revealed he had a single cup of tea a day, and drank hot water with root ginger and lemon zest. 

"I did once try drinking at a very early age — younger than I'm willing to admit. But I suspect that I poisoned my taste buds as I don't like the taste of any type of alcohol," The Mirror reported him saying. Andrew isn't the only teetotaler in his family. His sister Anne, the Princess Royal, also doesn't drink, a fact confirmed by her former private secretary Captain Sir Nicholas Wright, in the 2020 documentary "Anne: The Princess Royal at 70."

As the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, Princess Eugenie is not as high-profile as some royal family members, but she remained close to her grandmother, even after her parents divorced. Elizabeth lent her the gorgeous Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara for her 2018 wedding to Jack Brooksbank where cocktails, made with Casamigos tequila, were served to the guests.

Two years before she tied the knot, Eugenie offered a detailed insight into her life to Harper's Bazaar, including what she sipped at during the day: "Everything from green tea to coffee, Diet Coke to fizzy water," she said, before revealing her go-to tipple for an evening: "My favorite drink is vodka soda with loads of lime. Can't beat that."

The Queen Mother's drinking schedule has gone down in history, largely thanks to her former equerry (an assistant to the royal family), Major Colin Burgess. He wrote "Behind Palace Doors" and contributed to Adrian Tinniswood's "Behind the Throne," both of which revealed how much the Queen Mother drank. At noon, she began with Dubonnet and gin, what she called a "drinkypoo," followed by a martini at the 6 p.m. 

Dinner would include a couple of glasses of Veuve Clicquot champagne. One quote attributed to the royal grande dame came after the host of an event said they heard she was a fan of gin. Her reply, according to thrillist? "I hadn't realized I enjoyed that reputation. But as I do, perhaps you could make it a large one."

In 2012, almost 200 years after George IV came to the throne in 1820, he was voted Britain's Most Useless Monarch. His incredible appetite for booze might have had something to do with it. Historian Lucy Worsley revealed how it formed an important part of the vain, overweight monarch's epic breakfast, citing "... three parts of a bottle of Mozelle, a glass of dry Champagne, two glasses of Port and a glass of Brandy."

Given he illegally married a Catholic woman, got heavily into debt and wed German princess Caroline of Brunswick to fix the situation (it didn't), there's no surprise he took to the bottle. Worsley said George quipped: "Pray get me a glass of brandy" upon seeing his new wife for the first time, and spent their wedding night "dead-drunk" and "lying unconscious in the fireplace."

Queen Victoria may have been tiny but she was a mighty drinker.She was among the fans of Vin Mariani, a mix of wine and cocaine extracted from coca leaves, created by Angelo Mariani that was said to be a pick-me-up. It wasn't her only strong tipple, either.

Victoria's love of Scotland is well known, but she also enjoyed arguably its most famous product: Whisky. She and Prince Albert enjoyed Islay whisky, while Victoria's attendant, John Brown, made sure there was always plenty of it around, including in her tea. 

Iain Russell, scotchwhiskey.com, also busts the myth that Victoria liked a mix of red wine and whisky, suggesting it arose from a comment by then-Prime Minister William Gladstone about a one-off event, writing: "The following day's hangover would surely have been sufficient to end all interest in this particular cocktail."

As the eldest son of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert Edward had to wait 59 years before finally being crowned as Edward VII in 1901. He only reigned for nine years, but in that time he made his mark in more ways than one. Edward was the first member of the British royal family to own a car: A 1900 Daimler tonneau that he adored driving. 

However, there was no roof on the car and in the winter it was freezing. In 1903, the king's doctor called on wine and spirit merchants Berry Bros and Rudd to create a "warming, revivifying tonic" for the monarch. The result was a liqueur known as 'The King's Ginger'. According to the company, Edward would "drink directly from a saddle flask, likely while driving his beloved Daimler."

Mary of Teck, queen consort of King George V, was the mother of two kings and grandmother to Elizabeth II. Her start to royal life was bumpy; initially engaged to Victoria's grandson Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence (suspected by some of being Jack the Ripper), he died six weeks later. Mary then married his brother, who became King George V. She was a serious, steady figure and beloved by the British. 

While not a big drinker, Mary liked an occasional glass of sherry, and she's said to be responsible for the Dubonnet and gin cocktail that the Queen Mother and Elizabeth II liked. She is also believed to have inspired a fruity twist on a North American bar-room staple: The Queen Mary is beer with a dash of grenadine – which isn't made of cherries.

Immortalized in Oscar-winning film "The King's Speech," George VI was a reluctant but dutiful monarch, and the father of Elizabeth II. As well as his stutter, George also faced complications from an ulcer, which wasn't helped by his smoking and drinking, which both began at an early age. Although he never drank to excess (unlike his wife in her later years) George VI did enjoy a glass of Johnnie Walker whisky. 

He got more than he bargained for in 1939, during a state trip to Canada, part of a journey across North America. George was the first reigning monarch to visit (and to celebrate), an entrepreneurial manufacturer that presented a blend of around 50 whiskies to the royal couple. Ten cases of what became known as Crown Royal were packed on board their train.

In Tudor England, when Elizabeth I ruled between 1558 and 1603 there was plenty of alcohol for everyone to drink because the water would likely kill you. There was a range of beer styles made from hops or malted barley, though the queen did try to ban the strong double-double beer, without success. Wealthier people — including Elizabeth — also drank a variety of wines, such as malmsey. 

Among the queen's favorite drinks was mead,which she preferred to beer, and hippocras was also served at court. According to Sandra Byrd, sweet-toothed Elizabeth adored syllabubs, which were: "Sweetened wine or cider blended with milk and sugar and whipped into a light, sweet foam."