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News
Prince Philip trained servers to refill beer when Queen’s back turned
Food journalist and chef Dame Mary Berry has revealed the former Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip had his beer refilled when Queen Elizabeth II’s back was turned.
The revelation came during an event for Berry’s new book in Bath where she discussed meeting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at an intimate lunch of just 12 people.
Berry was seated next to Philip and opposite the Queen and it was during the lunch as discussions took place that she noticed the Duke of Edinburgh’s plan.
According to The Sun, Berry, said: “I sat next to the Duke of Edinburgh and he had his own beer. And the Queen was opposite him. And every time the Queen was looking the other way, I noticed his beer was filled up.”
Berry also spoke about what she discussed with the Prince, stating that he “specialised in barbecuing”, and would use game from the Sandringham estate, stuffing them with haggis and you would need “a bit of breadcrumbs with haggis because it’s a little bit greasy”. She said he “obviously knew what he was doing”.
The news about Philip will come as no surprise as he was a keen ale fan and is rumoured to have had a small bottle as a nightcap. The Mirror reported the Duke’s favourite pint was from Manchester’s now closed Boddingtons Brewery, and he is even claimed to have turned down fine wine in favour of a pint. Upon his death in 2021, Prince Harry said he imagined the Duke would have had a “beer in hand” when he died.
When offered wine by Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato in 2000 at a formal dinner in Rome, the Duke said: “Get me a beer. I don’t care what kind it is, just get me a beer” and at a rugby club lunch 13 years later when offered wine he said “Not that rubbish, can that barmaid get me a pint of Brakspear.”
Prince William
The news follows recent comments about Prince William by Mike Tindall, the former rugby player, gin entrepreneur and husband of Zara Phillips, the daughter of the Princess Royal.
According to Tindall, the Prince of Wales is called ‘One Pint Willy‘. He made the comments on the BBC’s Total Sport Podcast special series Seven: Rob Borrow. He has often be photographed socialising with both Prince William and Prince Harry over the years at official engagements and also at nightclubs and bars.
A keen drinker himself, and even the co-founder of the brand Blackeye Gin, Tindall said that the 41-year-old heir to the throne was not known to hold his drink, he claims.
Tindall said on the podcast: “The Prince of Wales is known to me as ‘One Pint Willy’ because he’s not the best of drinkers.
In addition, former newspaper editor Piers Morgan said that Prince William drank wine “all the time” as a young child with the permission of his mother, Princess Diana.
The young Prince begged for wine from his mother, the late Princess Diana, and said that he drank it “all the time”.
“It was a surreal experience”, Morgan wrote in his diary, “just the three of us and a PR lady sat around a table in Diana’s apartment, being served by her infamous butler Paul Burrell [who has become a controversial media figure since Diana’s death].”
“William’s always been headstrong. During that lunch we had, I remember him asking Diana: ‘Can I have some wine, Mummy?’”.