She has been the Commonwealth’s top dog for nearly 70 years, so you would think that whatever the Queen is doing is working.
And one thing the 95-year-old reportedly enjoys is a dry martini as she winds down from replying to 300-odd letters a day, and various meet-and-greets. It is such a small pleasure of hers, Buckingham Palace released its own brand of gin last year.
Let them drink martinis: Not anymore for Queen Elizabeth.Credit:Getty
Sometimes, if she’s feeling fancy, she also enjoys a glass of sweet German wine over a dinner of fillet steak with whiskey sauce or halibut on a bed of spinach with Mornay sauce followed by strawberries, white peaches and perhaps a spot of chocolate perfection pie.
According to a report in Vanity Fair, however, the monarch has been advised to ditch her daily tipple, so she is in good health for her Platinum Jubilee next June.
“The Queen has been told to give up her evening drink which is usually a martini,” a family friend told the publication. “It’s not really a big deal for her, she is not a big drinker but it seems a trifle unfair that at this stage in her life she’s having to give up one of very few pleasures.”
Indeed.
In his 2020 book, Long Live the Queen: 23 Rules for Living from Britain’s Longest-Reigning Monarch, Bryan Kozlowski writes: “Throughout her reign, alcohol has always served in the function of fast-acting stress reliever—a dose of liquid decompression on hectic days.”
Lilibet is not the only one to de-stress from a hectic day over a drink.
Australians aged 70 and over are the most likely to drink daily, followed by people in their 60s and in their 50s. But if they do drink, they are the least likely age group to exceed the single occasion risk guidelines of more than four drinks.
“Nevertheless, for many people choosing not to drink at that age is a safer option, and the benefits we thought existed have been over sold,” says Dr Anne-Marie Laslett, from the Centre for Alcohol Research at La Trobe University.
Our body’s ability to tolerate alcohol changes as we age. The liver’s speed in processing alcohol slows down; the blood alcohol concentration from the same number of drinks can increase because the body contains less muscle mass and water; and there is an increased risk of accidents as well as potential effects resulting from alcohol’s interaction with other medication.
Laslett says although there are general drinking guidelines, our specific health conditions matter. “As we age, the guidelines should be combined with personal advice.”
As for alcohol being a “fast acting stress-reliever”, she says:
“I don’t think it would have been the alcohol per se leading to the de-stressing, but taking time out and stopping.”
Provided older people discuss it with their doctor, especially if they have any potential underlying health conditions, and remain within the drinking guidelines, a drink or two to take time out is a relatively low health risk.
“There is still an increased health risk for a range of different health problems,” Laslett explains. “But if you make an informed decision to drink it can be relatively unproblematic.”
Given the Queen’s full schedule and the fact that, despite plans for her funeral being released, she is said to remain in good health, the woman deserves to press pause and have a drink if she damn well pleases.
Especially when you consider the bender planned for her Jubilee celebrations which include a four-day Bank Holiday weekend with a service of Thanksgiving, a 5000-strong pageant of performers on The Mall in London, a live concert at Buckingham Palace and the Derby, at Epsom Downs, followed by a tour of the UK.
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