Supercars, horse racing and fast food: how Elizabeth II really lives and what she eats
'26.10.2020'
Source: Lenta.ru report
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has ruled the United Kingdom since 1953, recalls "Lenta.ru".
She lives in castles, palaces and estates, wears massive jewelry with diamonds, keeps purebred English horses. She owns rare art objects, an incredible number of elegant hats and countless colorful costumes. But even with a personal fortune of $ 530 million, Elizabeth is far from the wealthiest person in her kingdom. At the same time, any billionaire would envy the monarch's lifestyle. Let's talk about the aristocratic habits of the Queen of Great Britain.
"She likes a simple fish and chips dish."
“One of the favorite dishes of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is shrimp in pots on toasted bread. However, the monarch loves sweets most of all. Her Majesty will always approve of anything on the menu related to chocolate, ”wrote the former head chef at the court of the British monarch Darren McGrady in his book“ Dining like a king: recipes and memories from royal cuisine ”.
For a long time, Elizabeth's favorite menu remained a great secret for her subjects, but McGrady opened the veil of secrecy. During his fifteen years of service, he studied the intricacies of the culinary preferences of the monarch and her family, accompanied the queen on state visits, and treated American presidents who came to London - from Gerald Ford to George W. Bush.
So the whole world learned that the head of state sits at the table four times a day - for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner, which is usually served in the late afternoon. At the same time, Elizabeth almost always makes do with modest portions.
The queen's breakfasts differ little from those of her subjects: she eats a boiled egg, toast with jam, cornflakes with milk and dried fruits, drinks tea with milk. For lunch, Her Majesty prefers grilled fish with zucchini and spinach, or chicken with salad.
By five o'clock Elizabeth and her husband are served tea with sandwiches, biscuits and cakes. As the royal chef said, the head of state loves honey and ginger biscuits, fruit or chocolate biscuits. Sandwiches are usually with cucumber, smoked salmon, eggs and mayonnaise, or ham and mustard. Tea is usually served with jam pennies - round bread-pulp sandwiches with raspberry jam. Elizabeth II fell in love with this dish during the Second World War, which fell on her late childhood and youth.
The tea ceremony is Her Majesty's invariable daily ritual. McGrady said he was once asked to set the table at XNUMX a.m. Australian time, because it was XNUMX p.m. UK time.
The royal kitchen employs 20 chefs. Twice a week, Elizabeth receives a menu from the chef to choose the dishes she would like to see on the table.
The Queen can drink too. Of all the alcoholic drinks, preference is given to gin, champagne and the sweet aromatized Dubonnet aperitif.
Elizabeth is intolerant of onions and garlic, while her husband Prince Philip loves curry with a lot of garlic and spices. Often the husband of the queen loves to cook something himself, he is best at grilling on family barbecues.
The Windsors also love the unpretentious fish and chips dish - fried fish and fried potatoes. The only taboo is fast food, they never order it in the royal family. Rare types of meat and seafood are also excluded from the diet.
Another habit common to the Queen and other members of the English aristocracy is a warm bath before dinner. After that, Elizabeth II goes down to the dining room, where the table has already been laid. For dinner, Her Majesty loves fish or game dishes from her own estates.
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"She loves caricatures with her face."
In general, not much is known about the life of the queen. This is not surprising, since the monarch never gives interviews. You can count on one hand the moments when journalists were allowed to be near the head of state to hear what she was saying.
Every morning, with the exception of Christmas, the Queen begins by reviewing and signing papers - these are intelligence and intelligence summaries, government meetings, and parliamentary documents. Her personal secretary prepares a red briefcase with documents by nine in the morning.
The Queen loves breakfast alone. At this time, she looks through the fresh press - articles that should be paid special attention to, by this time her personal secretary has already noted.
The Windsors especially closely follow their photographs, which are published in newspapers. The Queen and her family members need to look their best, so it is very important for them that the pictures are successful. If this is not the case, the press office of Buckingham Palace will convey the royal dissatisfaction with the leadership of this or that publication. At the same time, the head of state adores sketches and cartoons with his own face.
After viewing the contents of the red briefcase, Elizabeth II writes letters. On calm days, the monarch pays attention to his dogs - his beloved corgi. Elizabeth sometimes prepares food for them herself, mixing rabbit and chicken meat with special additives, and takes them for a walk herself. But in most cases, of course, these duties are performed by butlers.
Elizabeth II and her close relatives love fishing. The Queen used to spend quite a lot of time in nature with a spinning rod in her hands. She got used to this as a child, when she lived in Scotland, on the estate of her mother, who was also a passionate fisherman.
"She drives supercars without a license and never buckles up."
Queen Elizabeth is the only person in the UK who is allowed to drive without a license. In addition, she is the only one who can travel by car on the so-called Long Trail - a four-kilometer road that runs from Windsor Castle to the hill on which the equestrian statue of King George III is installed.
Elizabeth learned to drive during the Second World War, when she served in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Corps.
During the years of his reign, the head of state's fleet has been visited by various luxurious cars, including Rolls-Royce supercars of the 1955 Phantom IV and the 8 Daimler Super V-2001, made to order. In recent years, the monarch has driven a Range Rover or Jaguar without ever wearing a seatbelt. She drives this car on the roads of the royal estates in Scotland, or when she returns to the castle after Sunday service at All Saints Church in Windsor Park.
Of course, there can be no question of bringing herself to some official event herself: Elizabeth II should greet her subjects and tourists, waving her hand.
In addition to cars, the British monarch loves horse riding. The Queen is a wonderful rider, she loves horses and horseback riding, during which, by the way, she completely refuses to wear a jockey helmet, instead covering her head with a silk scarf.
The Windsors are particularly attracted by the Royal Races, which take place every year in Ascot. Women and men from different British cities prepare for this event several months in advance. Here the cream of the local aristocracy and the main representatives of the royal family gather.
Many bookmakers organize a tote that is not related to the races - everyone is invited to guess what color the suit and the queen's hat will be this time
Her Majesty loves elegant hats and gloves, and her purse is usually paired with shoes. But the most noticeable in the style of the head of state is bright costumes: deep pink, light green, canary yellow, cornflower blue.
The Queen's colorful wardrobe is selected so that everyone can say that he saw her at this or that event. According to the royal biographer Robert Hardman, Elizabeth II even lamented that she would never be able to wear a suit in beige, because then no one would recognize her.
The Queen loves to bet on the races and wins often. For 2018, according to the estimates of the British Horse Racing Association, Elizabeth II received income from the victories of her horses, equal to 583 thousand dollars.
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"She could be the third richest woman in the world"
Forbes magazine estimated the fortune of Elizabeth II at half a billion dollars. She owns art, jewelry, land and real estate - Sandringham Palace in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire. In addition, the monarch has lands and horse farms throughout the country, as well as real estate in London.
Elizabeth II has a large collection of jewelry. How many tiaras the British monarch has - is not reported, it is only known that they all cost millions of dollars. Among them is a vintage Cartier tiara worth $ 900. However, this is not the most expensive item in the collection. Most valuable was the unique Poltimore Diadem, designed by Garrard for Lady Poltimore, wife of the treasurer under Queen Victoria. It belonged to Elizabeth's sister, Princess Margaret. After her death, the jewelry was sold for $ 1,7 million.
Another pride of the Queen is the family collection of stamps, which the Windsors have been collecting since the early 9,48th century. It contains a copy of every stamp ever produced in the UK. The only thing missing is "British Guinea" - this unique brand was sold six years ago at Sotheby's for $ XNUMX million
In addition to the personal property of Queen Elizabeth, there is the Royal Collection, which includes works of art and jewelry - more than a million copies worth over $ 13 billion. All this is not considered the state of the queen herself, because it is kept for her successors and the country.
The Crown Estate owns countless lands and properties throughout the UK. For example, Buckingham Palace has been the official residence of British monarchs since 1837. If Elizabeth II owned the property of the Crown, with a fortune of more than $ 25 billion, she could become the third richest woman in the world. However, the money for the maintenance of the royal family is directed by the Crown Estate, and everything that they do not spend should certainly return.
To maintain the royal lifestyle, the queen and her family need about $ 400 million a year. This money goes to maintenance of residences, salaries of royal employees, travel of members of the royal family, as well as information support - the head of state has accounts on social networks, including Instagram. In this case, the costs of security and royal ceremonies are taken from other sources. By the way, the money that the head of state wins at the races goes to a separate item of income.
Elizabeth pays a lot of attention to ceremonies, taking seriously her role as a constitutional monarch, standing above party strife. Every Tuesday, the British Prime Minister comes to Buckingham Palace for a personal meeting with the Queen.
The Queen tries to demonstrate unity with the people. So, after the war, she led an emphatically restrained lifestyle. To buy material for a wedding dress, she even saved up cards for fabric
When it was rumored in the 1990s that the monarchy was too expensive for Great Britain, Elizabeth began to voluntarily pay income tax, as well as taxes on inheritance and profits, refused special flights for foreign visits, reduced the number of personal helicopters from two to one and sold the royal yacht Britannia.
In addition, the royal family is actively involved in charity work. So, at the moment, the head of state is the patroness of more than six hundred various foundations and public organizations.
Despite this, there are enough skeptics in the country who believe that the spending of Elizabeth II and her family is too heavy a burden for UK taxpayers. However, if you calculate how much the maintenance of the monarchy costs every Briton, you get about $ 1,62 a year. At the same time, income from tourists who go to see how the Windsors live, annually bring to the treasury over $ 700 million.
