He explained that the queen only drinks wine occasionally with dinner, opting for a favorite German sweet wine. And as for the claims about her morning drinking, he added, "She doesn't wake up in the morning and have a large gin and tonic. Just in the evening. She certainly doesn't drink four glasses a day."
If you're wondering how the misunderstanding came about, McGrady credits his thick accent and the fact that he was having some technical difficulties at the time. For instance, though it's been reported that Her Majesty has "gin in the morning," what McGrady really meant to say was "gin and Dubonnet" (a sweet wine-based aperitif pronounced doo-BON-ay). Fair enough.
While the reigning monarch may be treading lightly with alcohol, the same can't be said about her favorite treat, chocolate biscuit cake. While speaking with Hello, McGrady said, "The royal chefs send a whole cake up to Her Majesty every day for tea. She will sometimes take a slice and then it is never seen at the royal table again."
He continued, "I remember as a young chef traveling from Paddington to Windsor one Friday morning with a half-eaten chocolate biscuit cake packed neatly and tightly in a biscuit tin, and wrapped in Clingfilm, perched on my knee with the fear of God in me that I would lose or drop the thing! It was her favourite."
