All the ceremonies surrounding the passing of Queen Elizabeth II certainly were impressive, culminating on Monday with the funeral in the same church where she had been married and crowned.
One might presume that royalty, almost by definition, would be collectors and imbibers of fine wine. But according to this report, Queen Elizabeth did not drink table wine, although she did complete her day with a glass of French Champagne.
It was the Queen Mother who had an affinity for wine — although not at dinner time. Her practice was to have a glass of red wine with lunch.
Both the Queen and Queen Mother were said to have an assortment of cocktails throughout the day.
Considering Queen Elizabeth lived to age 96 and the Queen Mother to 101 (and 238 days), perhaps there’s something to the contention that moderate consumption of alcohol (which both apparently exceeded by a tad) helps prolong our lives.
The Queen was aware that in recent decades, winemakers in Britain had been making great strides in quality, due in no small part to a changing climate that enabled wine grapes to fully ripen.
So, as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebration earlier this year, the Queen authorized the release of a commemorative bottling of bubbly called Buckingham Palace English Sparkling Wine.
Sales of the wine benefit the Royal Collection Trust, a charitable department of the Royal Household that is “responsible for the care of the Royal Collection and manages the public opening of the official residences of The Queen.”
There has been widespread speculation that King Charles has his eye on downsizing the monarchy to help make its funding by the British people more palatable as the country’s economy struggles.
Opening some of the royal properties to the public to generate additional funding also reportedly is being discussed, and that’s where the RCT could come into play.
Also being sold were specially commissioned Champagne flutes decorated with an illustration of the national flowers of the United Kingdom — perfect for toasting the life of a monarch that likely never will be duplicated.
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