Tea with the Queen: How The Queen Enjoys Britain’s Greatest Tradition

Tea is very much a part of The Queen’s diet as it is a staple in many homes in Great Britain.  Popularized by Catherine of Braganza  (who married King Charles II) in the 17th century, tea is established as a very British tradition. The monarch’s day begins with a pot of freshly brewed Assam or Earl Grey tea (with milk and sugar-free), poured from silver pots into a bone china cup and served with a few biscuits on a saucer. These she would take before breakfast.  Tea would be poured in first, if she is taking it with milk, a tradition that British royals stick to since the 18th century.

"I am sure the Queen enjoys her Assam or her Earl Grey the traditional way, made with tea leaves in a teapot and poured into a fine bone china teacup. She will also use a strainer. It is also a myth that members of Royalty use their pinky when drinking, I have never seen that happen once," royal butler Grant Harrold shared an insight into the Queen's habits as he spoke about British etiquette in BBC Three comedy show Miss Holland, which aired last year.

Once tea is poured from the teapot to the cup, milk is added and never the other way around. Teaspoon is stirred back and forth without touching the sides. In enjoying a cup, sipping is preferred over slurping.

The Queen’s afternoon tea is always prepared with a plate of freshly baked plain or fruit scones. Interestingly, she takes her afternoon tea at 5 p.m., which is usually dinnertime for most of her subjects! The Queen always insist that the kitchen staff bring in scones, although Darren McGrady, who served in the Queen’s Kitchen in the 1990s, believes that she may not actually have a liking for scones because she never ate them. “Instead, at the end of her daily tea, the Queen would take a scone and crumble it on the floor for the corgis,” he wrote in his book Eating Royally. “It seems the dogs quite liked them.”

Chocolate is also part of The Queen’s tea. Perfection pie or chocolate biscuit cake, made with McVitie’s Rich Tea biscuits, is served.

Two types of sandwiches are also brought to The Queen to go along. The choices abound, from cucumber, smoked salmon and egg with mayonnaise, to ham and mustard and tuna. Bread is either whole wheat or white bread but always thinly sliced, and cut in an octagon-like shape.

“I remember early on in my career I asked a fellow chef why it was necessary to trim corners off of tea sandwiches. I was told to never cut a square or a rectangle,” McGrady recalls in his book, Eating Royally. “It looked too much like a coffin and it meant you wished the Queen ill,” McGrady was told.

Even in teatime, we always wish The Queen well.