As Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 90th birthday with pomp and circumstance, you may be feeling a little envious of all the grandeur. But don’t fret! If travelling to Great Britain, there are more than a few ways to live like royalty.
Out and about in London
The capital of Great Britain is home to several splendid palaces. While in London, be sure to stop by Kensington Palace, home to William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s London home. While both offer tours, much of the palaces remain off-limits. The dazzling Crown Jewels can also be seen at the infamous Tower of London. If you’d like to stroll in royal footsteps, Walk London has great suggestions for free walking tours, which includes royal parks and several palaces that are no longer inhabited.
A royal shopping spree
It’s easy to shop like the Queen. In Great Britain, Royal Warrant holders are businesses that supply goods or services to the upper tiers of the royal family. Two department stores on London’s famed Oxford Street, Europe’s busiest shopping boulevard, fit the bill: the ritzy John Lewis and the swanky House of Fraser. You can view a full list of the 700-plus Royal Warrant holders, which spans everything from barbers to opticians, at www.royalwarrant.org.
Eat like a queen
Chocolate and sole top the list of the Queen’s favourite foods. For the former, visit Prestat in London for artisan truffles. Mosimann’s, a private London dining club, is also a royal favourite. If you can’t land an invitation, international membership costs a whopping £400 a year, plus a joining fee of £250. No matter where you eat, be sure to wash it all down with a glass of gin and Dubonnet garnished with a slice of lemon and plenty of ice – the monarch’s favourite drink.
Sweet dreams
The Rubens at the Palace is the closest hotel to Buckingham Palace. To commemorate the monarch’s 90th birthday, the hotel is offering a 3-night “Live like Royalty” package that features succulent afternoon tea, a horse-drawn carriage ride and a four-course gourmet dinner that includes meats from the same butcher that supplies the royal family. Royals themselves have also enjoyed the opulence of The Goring and The Ritz hotels.
Abroad in Britain
When she’s not at Buckingham Palace, the Queen often spends her weekends at leafy Windsor Castle, 35km west of London. In the summer, the monarch can often be found in Scotland. The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is used as a stopover on her way to one of her favourite: imposing Balmoral Castle in rugged Aberdeenshire, which opens its sprawling gardens to tourists when the Queen isn’t around.
