Queen Elizabeth Says She Doesn’t Drink Wine, and Here’s Why We’re Not Convinced

Well, this certainly comes as a surprise. Queen Elizabeth just revealed that she doesn’t drink wine. Ever. None. What?!

The 93-year-old monarch of the U.K. will pass on your offer of a glass of pinot grig, thank you very much. On Tuesday, she paid a visit to the National Institute of Agricultural Botany near Cambridge, celebrating 100 years of crop research. According to People, when the conversation turned to wine, the secret came out.

Chief executive of the NIAB Tina Barsby told reporters, “NIAB is involved in almost every crop, and one of our people mentioned we had an experiential vineyard in Kent and [the queen] said she had some vines in Windsor.”

Apparently, English wine is getting more and more popular—just not for Liz. “I told her that the official wine for the Oxford and Cambridge boat race was English sparkling rather than French champagne, and that English wine was becoming more popular and much better,” Barsby said. The queen’s response? “I don’t actually drink wine myself, but I hear it’s very good.” 

As much as this news brings us to tears, it also raises some red flags. You see, Queen Elizabeth’s busy four-cocktails-per-day regimen begs to differ. According to previous reports by former royal chef Darren McGrady, that includes a pre-lunch gin and Dubonnet garnished with a slice of lemon; a glass of wine (yep) at lunch; an afternoon dry gin martini; and a glass of Champagne before hitting the hay.

So, sorry, but we’re confused. Was that a glass of wine at lunch, your majesty? Maybe she’s just partial to another country’s wine, but she doesn’t want to admit it—a queen is nothing if not polite.