#Buckingham Palace now selling gin — Queen Elizabeth’s drink of choice

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Queen Elizabeth II and Buckingham Palace’s exclusive dry gin.
Getty Images; Reuters

If being the head of the troubled Windsor dynasty has become too much — particularly with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s escape to California and the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal plaguing Prince Andrew — Queen Elizabeth II and could be forgiven for reaching for the gin bottle.

Now the British royal, 94, can opt for her own brand of liquor with the launch of Buckingham Palace’s exclusive dry gin made with ingredients from the gardens of the monarch’s famed London residence.

The spirit, available online from the Royal Collection Trust, features hawthorn berries, lemon verbena, mulberry leaves and bay leaves.

Infused with citrus and herbal notes, it costs $50 for a 24-ounce bottle and is 42% proof. Guests at Buckingham Palace will be lucky enough to be served the tipple at future events.

The shop website describes the gin as “the perfect summer thirst quencher.” The recommended serving method is to “pour a measure of the gin into an ice-filled tumbler before topping up with tonic and garnishing with a slice of lemon.”

That differs slightly from the believed favorite cocktail of the queen who claims former royal chef, Darren McGrady, prefers a morning pour of one part gin with two parts of the aperitif Dubonnet together with ice and lemon.

The former employee revealed in 2017 how the queen typically enjoys four alcoholic drinks a day — the gin/Dubonnet combo ahead of wine with lunch followed by an evening sundowner of a dry martini and then Champagne.

Meanwhile, the new Buckingham Palace gin comes in a clear and turquoise glass bottle embossed with a coronet entwined with a ring of flowers. The finishing touch is a gold-colored stopper. On the back is a sketch of the imposing palace situated in the UK’s capital city.

Profits from the gin will go towards the trust, which oversees the Royal Collection art exhibits and all public openings of the queen’s official residences to the general public. These include Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace.

The trust — which has been asking some of its 650 staff to take voluntary redundancy — has been hit hard by the coronavirus. The organization recently had to take out a $27.6 million loan after predicting losses of $37 million for the next year.

Hopefully, the Buckingham Palace gin will prove a real money-spinner for the British royal family, as well as a way to soothe the queen’s nerves.