A Drink Fit for a Queen

This was no run-of-the-mill outlandish celebrity request for, say — M&Ms sans yellow, or  PB&J on bread flown in from Los Angeles. This was the Queen of England’s wish, and it nearly got someone (though not Her Majesty) expelled from the cricket grounds.

Queen Elizabeth’s order seemed fairly straightforward. She wanted a gin and Dubonnet cocktail with her lunch while watching the cricket at London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground. But the club didn’t have the red-wine-based French aperitif, which is the Queen’s favorite. (A BBC documentary a couple of years ago showed her personal butler mixing her one.)

So, according to the U.K.'s Mail on Sunday, a butler was sent on a royal mission: To track down the spirit, also once a favorite of the queen’s mother. The butler couldn’t find any in the liquor stores of St. John’s Wood, the north London neighborhood where the cricket ground is located, but he finally found some in a supermarket.

But a rule-bound Lord’s security officer insisted on enforcing the venue’s strict drinks policy, which bans spectators from bringing their own spirits (small amounts of wine and beer are OK, though).

The butler finally had to call the head of the cricket ground to let him in with the hard-won booze. And the Queen? She got her cocktail — and was none the wiser. Bottoms up, Your Majesty!