Rum was the spirit of choice for William and Harry’s teenage parties in the basement at Highgrove – and now their father is creating his own blend.
Made with the honey of Charles’s own bees on his country estate, Highgrove Honey Infused Rum is now being sold by the King’s Foundation – with the proceeds going to charity. But there is a sting in the tail – a 700ml bottle costs £44.95.
The royal recipe marries five-year-old Jamaican rum with ‘royal bee honey’ sourced from the 150,000 bees that live at Charles’s Gloucestershire home.
Their honey, blended with the rum, promises to produce a flavour of tropical fruit, soft spices and toasted coconut – with a potent kick of 38 per cent alcohol.
The King has previously declared his love for the unique smell of rum, and was photographed knocking back a tot of ‘gunpowder proof’ liquor with sailors on an engagement in 2023.
But the history of rum at Highgrove was not always so sweet. Prince Harry admitted in his memoir Spare that as teenagers he and his brother would party with friends in the basement beneath Highgrove, which they dubbed Club H.
‘There was plenty of innocent snogging, which went hand in hand with the not-so-innocent drinking. Rum and coke, or vodka, usually in tumblers, with liberal splashes of Red Bull.’
King Charles is creating his own blend of honey-infused rum from bees on his own country estate
A 700ml bottle of Highgrove Honey Infused Rum costs £44.95
The King taking a sniff of local honey during a visit to Exmoor National Park in 2019
He added that Club H smelled of ‘the faint aroma of… booze… [and] fresh air from Pa’s gardens… with hints of lavender and honeysuckle’.
The new rum is sold on the Highgrove Gardens website and by Fortnum & Mason.
Is Charlotte now a Chelsy girl?
Chelsy Davy may have parted ways with Prince Harry more than a decade ago, but does her style still have influence with some younger royals?
I couldn’t help noticing that on Christmas Day Princess Charlotte was wearing what appears to be a ruby necklace from a collaboration range between Chelsy’s brand Aya Jewels and Gemfields, worth £1,500. Who could have bought it for her?
Princess Charlotte on Christmas Day, wearing what appears to be a ruby necklace from a collaboration range between Chelsy Davy’s brand Aya Jewels and Gemfields
One day, Ariana, you’ll be big too
Ariana Grande may have just won a Rising Star award, but standing beside a towering Nicole Kidman, it’s clear she still has some ‘rising’ to do.
Nicole, 57, had to bend double to congratulate the 31-year-old star of Wicked at the Palm Springs International Film Awards on Friday.
Grande joked that Botox and fillers must be working given that the gong usually goes to younger stars. She said: ‘I’ve been performing since I was a child, so I thought I’d be hearing Slightly Withering Star or Drooping Star by now.’
Nicole Kidman and Ariana Grande at the 36th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards
Nicole, 57, had to bend double to congratulate the 31-year-old star of Wicked
Given his £30million fortune, Marco Pierre White can afford to dine out at the finest establishments.
But news reaches me that the 63-year-old, once dubbed London’s rudest chef, challenged his dining companion at seafood restaurant Flute in Bath to a game of spoof to decide who picked up the £170 tab – and emerged victorious. Let’s hope his chum remembered his credit card…
I might challenge Gavin And Stacey’s Rob Brydon to a game of poker – because he’s a terrible fibber. Before finding fame, Rob trialled for a job in telesales flogging environmentally friendly cleaning agents.
‘I had one guy, he was German. I said, “Where are you from?” He said Stuttgart, so I replied, “We had our honeymoon in Stuttgart.”’ Rob felt so guilty about his dishonesty that he didn’t return to the office after lunch. The shame!
Former hellraiser Pete Doherty has confessed to money laundering – but not as we know it.
The Libertines star, now living a sober lifestyle in France, says when he signed his first record deal he stashed bundles of cash in his fridge – and ironed the notes every morning.
Has Gwynnie’s pick left a sour taste?
Hasn’t Gwyneth Paltrow got the memo that Russian goods are not exactly flavour of the month in the West right now?
The Hollywood actress has listed £500 Russian Osetra caviar as one of her current top picks on the website of her wellness brand Goop.
‘If you’re looking for an egg-scuse to throw a party…’ Gwyneth, 52, quips in the caption beneath an image of the luxury item.
Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured) has listed £500 Russian Osetra caviar as one of her current top picks
The ex-girlfriend of Princess Alexandra’s grandson, model and socialite Isabella Charlotta Poppius, had cause to celebrate over New Year following the birth of her nephew, Erik, making her first-time aunt.
The London-based it girl, once romantically linked to Alexander Ogilvy, shared photos of a onesie she bought for him with the caption ‘picking things out for baby Erik.’ A friend of Poppius says she is ‘over the moon’ to be a first-time aunt and she cannot wait to meet her nephew in his birthplace, Los Angeles in California.
Fast Show actress Arabella Weir has revealed that her childhood was loveless and miserable – despite coming from a privileged background. ‘I was brought up with material wealth but big-time emotional poverty.
No love, criticism, undermined all the time,’ the daughter of the former British ambassador Sir Michael Weir admitted. ‘The first time Granny Nancy saw me on TV she said, “Saw you on the telly last night, Arabella. Awfully beefy,”’ Weir recalls. Harsh!
