Cheers!

The other night I watched a wonderful program on PBS, The Monarchy: The Royals at Work. It was fascinating to see the everyday schedule of Queen Elizabeth I, and her day at Buckingham Palace, or out and about around the world.

One of the things I found so very interesting was how her staff prepares for special state functions, dinners for dignitaries, with all the precision and pomp required. Even measuring the plates, silverware and stemware from the edge of the table, all these items looking like soldiers standing at attention!

We were even given a tour of the Buckingham Cellars, where the wines are kept for these banquets. The original cellars are from 1706, and house wines that go way, way back, about 25,000 of them! Of course, there were very old wines that will probably never be opened, but there are loads of them that will. The oldest right now is from 1815.

The original cellars were part of Buckingham House that existed on the ground well before the Palace,built in 1705, belonging to the Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, John Sheffield. It was designed by William Winde, and is now incorporated into the facade of the current Palace.

Sheffield was a Tory politician during the Stuart era in England, and you can imagine the evenings at Buckingham Hall, going down to the cellars, and dusting off a lovely port to serve his guests after dinner.