Queen Elizabeth, who enjoys a dry martini every day, has been advised by her doctors to forego her routine of having the alcoholic beverage every evening. According to a report from Vanity Fair, who cited two sources from close to the Queen, “Doctors have advised the Queen to forgo alcohol except for special occasions to ensure she is as healthy as possible for her busy autumn schedule and ahead of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations next June.”
Queen Elizabeth is now 95 years of age and she remains in excellent health. Yet, royal doctors have advised the monarch to give up alcohol. While the Queen of the United Kingdom rarely drinks in public, she is known to like a martini in private. The days of enjoying a nightcap might now be numbered, though.
“The Queen has been told to give up her evening drink which is usually a martini,” a family friend told Vanity Fair. “It’s not really a big deal for her. She is not a big drinker but it seems a trifle unfair that at this stage in her life she’s having to give up one of very few pleasures.”
“The alcohol has gone, as her doctors want to make sure she is as fit and healthy as possible,” a second source also told Vanity Fair. There are several royal engagements coming up in the coming months and the Queen’s doctors want her to be as fit as possible.
The Queen has gone through a difficult period following the death of her husband Prince Philip in April. In recent months, however, she has looked happy and full of energy and enthusiasm as she has carried out a string of engagements.
While she is rarely seen drinking in public, she apparently enjoys a drink most evenings. According to palace sources, her drink of choice is often a dry martini which also happens to be Prince Charles’s favorite as well.
At dinner, the Queen usually enjoys a glass of sweet wine and, according to her late cousin Margaret Rhodes, she’s been known to drink a glass of champagne before bed.
But now, Her Majesty will only imbibe water and soft drinks. “The alcohol has gone, her doctors want to make sure she is as fit and healthy as possible,” confirms a second source.
Queen Elizabeth’s Holiday Home in Sandringham
While it was once reported that the Queen consumed four alcoholic beverages a day, chef Darren McGrady, who cooked for her from 1982-1993 said though she ate four small meals a day (including afternoon tea and a piece of cake), she rarely drank at lunch and often enjoyed just a single small glass of sweet German wine with dinner.
Aside from her nightly dry martini, the Queen is a fan of Dubonnet and gin, which was the Queen Mother’s favorite drink. Last year Buckingham Palace released its own brand of gin, and the Queen allows sparkling wine to be produced from her vines at Windsor Great Park.
After spending most of 2020 and the early part of 2021 at Windsor Castle in lockdown, the Queen has now resumed in-person engagements and has been busy since returning from her extended summer break at Balmoral.
Palace aides have said that the Queen’s schedule will be busy up until Christmas and she’ll be dividing her time between Windsor and Buckingham Palace where she has resumed official engagements and investitures.
Next year, the Queen’s focus will be on her Platinum Jubilee celebrations which will involve a four-day Bank Holiday weekend with events including Trooping the Colour, a service of Thanksgiving, and the highlight of the celebrations—a pageant with 5,000 performers on The Mall in London. There will also be a live concert at Buckingham Palace, called the Platinum Party at the Palace and the Queen will also head to the Derby, at Epsom Downs. The Queen will be 96 at the time of the celebrations and is expected to travel around the UK to mark the occasion while her family undertakes a tour around the Commonwealth.
