A recent report from Daily Mail royals editor Richard Eden suggests the Queen of England may have a secret perk in one of her London palaces.
Eden wrote Oct. 2 about a conversation he had with Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank, a brand ambassador for George Clooney’s tequila label, Casamigos. “The tequila salesman has claimed there’s a tunnel beneath the streets of London which means the royals can discreetly slip to a cocktail bar from a palace. ‘There is one to Dukes Bar from St. James’s Palace,’ he tells me,” Eden reported.
Princess Eugenie’s husband shines light on secret #royal tunnel pic.twitter.com/1ViYAOWPv2
— Richard Eden (@richardaeden) October 2, 2021
“‘I haven’t used it yet, but I’d love to check it out.’ The bar is in the five-star Dukes Hotel and serves a £17 martini,” Eden wrote. (RELATED: ‘Privately Devastated’: Queen Elizabeth II Reportedly Investigating Allegations Of Royal Racism Herself)
St. James’s Palace hasn’t been the Queen’s official royal residence since Queen Victoria’s arrival at Buckingham Palace in the 19th century, Food & Wine reported Tuesday. Instead, St. James’s Palace is reportedly used as an office complex, as well as for ceremonial events.
What is now the Dukes London, a 5-star hotel located in central London, is just a block away from the 16th-century palace, meaning the Queen did not specifically create the underground tunnel to designate just for her liking, according to Food & Wine.
Queen Elizabeth II’s go-to drink is a gin and Dubonnet, Food & Wine previously reported. According to the royal family’s former chef, Darren McGrady, Queen Elizabeth is not a common drinker. “She’d be pickled if she drank that much, [But] she likes a gin and Dubonnet. That’s her favorite drink,” McGrady said, according to Food & Wine.
In 2017, a Business Insider reported that Queen Elizabeth enjoyed four cocktails per day.