The Queen Mother was known for her extravagant lifestyle (and love of a good gin and Dubonnet), but it seems some royal habits skip generations. Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, carried a sense of wartime frugality throughout her life, but King Charles shares more in common with his grandmother than may meet the eye.
In her book The Palace Papers, author Tina Brown wrote about The King’s love of the finer things in life as compared to his famously thrifty parents. “The Prince of Wales (now King Charles), unfortunately, chose to emulate his big-spending grandmother, who insisted on living in Edwardian grandeur, maintaining five fully staffed homes,” she penned.
“Charles, senior courtiers felt, wanted to 'out-granny Granny' in old world elegance,” Brown added.
In his recent biography of the late Queen, author Robert Hardman recalled one dinner when the Queen Mother made “her way through two glasses of gin and Dubonnet, followed by champagne, white wine and claret before being offered a closing glass of Chateau d’Yquem.”
“Oh no, I really couldn’t drink any more. I’ll just have a glass of champagne,” she replied.
While Charles isn't as much of a drinker as his grandmother, Brown claims that The King occasionally arrives at a dinner with his own “martini premixed and ready to be handed to the butler and served in his own glass.” But his bring-your-own philosophy apparently extends to more than drinks.
“When he traveled to stay at friends’ country houses, a truck arrived the day before, bringing his bed, furniture and even pictures, which his pampering aide Michael Fawcett ensured would be hung in his allotted bedroom in place of the possessions of his host,” Brown wrote.
Royal author Tom Bower also referenced the bring-your-own bed story in his book Rebel King, writing that Charles also brought in “a small radio, Charles’s own lavatory seat, rolls of Kleenex Premium Comfort lavatory paper, Laphroaig whisky and bottled water (for both bedrooms), plus two landscapes of the Scottish Highlands” when he visited a friend for a weekend. The Queen Mother would have certainly approved.
