Royal family drinking habits revealed by palace experts and insiders

For Princess Diana’s former butler, Buckingham Palace was the “gin palace” where the drinks never stopped flowing.

Paul Burrell, who served in the royal residence for 11 years before moving to Kensington Palace, has written a new book: “The Royal Insider.” In it he said that liters of gin were consumed every week, “some legitimate, some not.”

“I quickly became familiar with the ingenious methods the family used to smuggle alcohol for their soirées,” he wrote, as quoted by The sun. “I was instructed by senior staff to empty a screw-top tonic water bottle every evening and fill it with gin so they could use it for parties in their rooms.”

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“There were footmen carrying Russell Hobbs kettles around the palace, not with water but with gin,” he added.

Royal experts told Fox News Digital that palace aides weren’t the only ones enjoying their libations behind closed doors.

“It was an open secret that the Queen Mother (mother of Queen Elizabeth II) According to her biographer William Shawcross, she enjoyed ‘a sip,'” Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. “She enjoyed incessant social gatherings and was said to enjoy a gin and Dubonnet at lunchtime, red wine at lunch, a martini in the evening and pink champagne after dinner.”

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“Queen Elizabeth was known to have a fondness for gin and Dubonnet, which was her favorite cocktail,” he shared. “Princess Margaret was particularly fond of Famous Grouse whiskey. Princess Catherine was also reported to enjoy a gin and tonic in the evenings. Meghan Markle famously named her blog The Tig after Tignanello, her favorite wine.”

In 2021, a family friend told People magazine that Prince William has been known to bring his wife Kate Middleton a classic gin and tonic after she puts their three young children to bed.

“They care about each other, but in different ways,” the friend said.

Occasionally Kate craves something sweeter, British royals expert Hilary Fordwich said Fox News Digital.

“Princess Catherine always liked vodka, passion fruit and raspberry liqueur, which is much sweeter than most drinks,” Fordwich said. “She even tops it all off with a shot of champagne. This was served at her wedding to Prince William.”

Even the health-conscious King Charles doesn’t miss a good sip.

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“Charles is a man of healthy habits,” says Valentine Low, author of “Power and the Palace” said Fox News Digital. “He skips lunch. He eats a very light breakfast. But a government minister, Michael Gove, once told me how he took a ride on the royal train with the then Prince Charles. In the evening he was called in for a nightcap with Charles and was offered a very good malt whiskey – a glass of Laphroaig.”

“They had a nice chat about everything, including government policy,” Low said. “And then, at the end of that nightcap, he realized it was time to go when there was a discreet knock on the door.

“The next morning he was invited to have breakfast with Charles. But before he left, Charles’s private secretary suggested that he might like a ‘big boy’s breakfast’ first. So he joined the private secretary for eggs, bacon and toast. He then went to Charles, who offered him his own breakfast – a small glass of healthy juice and some nuts and seeds.”

“He had two breakfasts that day,” Low added.

Fordwich told Fox News Digital that the 76-year-old monarch is known as a “lighter drinker” who occasionally prefers a martini “carefully crafted with equal parts gin and vermouth.”

When it came to his mother, the late Queen, Fordwich said she preferred Dubonnet and gin before lunch, wine with dinner and a dry martini in the evening. Sometimes she treated herself to champagne in the evening. The routine was similar to that of the Queen Mother.

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According to reports The queen preferred Bollinger champagnewho has held a royal warrant since 1884. Her husband, Prince Philip, was more of a no-frills drinker.

“Prince Philip did not often drink wine at banquets, preferring instead a bottle of beer,” royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.

Philip’s drink of choice was Boddington’s bitters.

The royals were generally able to handle their alcohol – except for one senior member.

“Prince William is nicknamed, quite admirably in my opinion, ‘One Pint Willy,'” Fordwich said. “It refers to his low alcohol tolerance compared to the more robust drinking habits of the rest of the royal family.”

William was given the nickname by former rugby star Mike Tindall, who is married to the prince’s cousin Zara. He revealed it on Rob Burrow’s podcast in 2023.

“He’s not the best drinker,” Tindall said at the time.

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But in his younger days, William had more staminasaid Fordwip.

“He enjoyed a kamikaze shot [during his clubbing days]” she said. “It combines vodka, lime juice and triple sec.”

His late mother Dianafell out of fashion and had no regular drinking ritual. At social events she is said to have enjoyed white wine, particularly Chablis, and peach Bellini.

In 2019 Vanity Fair Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl reported that Prince Harry, once known for pushing back vodka Red Bull chasers in nightclubs, has adopted a healthier lifestyle thanks to his wife. Today he should start his day with a green juice.