Raise a glass: the Queen was said to be a fan of a cocktail
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The Queen awarded almost 30 drinks brands a royal warrant during her lifetime but there is only one with which she will forever be associated: the gin and Dubonnet that she drank every day before lunch as an appetite stimulator. The Queen was so fond of the drink that she bestowed Dubonnet’s warrant on November 2021. Since then, sales have doubled, with Waitrose selling out of Dubonnet in the run-up to the Platinum Jubilee.
Dubonnet was invented in 1846 by a Parisian wine merchant and chemist called Sir Joseph Dubonnet, who combined fortified red wine with a secret combination of herbs and spices. Like tonic water, Dubonnet contains quinine, used to treat malaria, which makes it a similarly natural partner for gin, albeit one with an alcohol content of 14.8 per cent.
