Beer for Royal Wedding

With wedding fever gripping the nation, Britain’s farmers and hop growers are asking the more serious question; what drink will be used to celebrate this special Royal Wedding?

William’s grandfather, the Earl Spencer, brewed a special beer to mark the birth of "the Royal Heir to The Prince and Princess of Wales in Burton-on-Trent on the 5th of July in 1982."

And as his father, Prince Charles, is the proud instigator of the Duchy Originals range of beers - and a considerable farmer - beer seems the obvious choice for the Royal occasion.

Although Champagne, or sparkling wines, may currently be the chosen beverage for many, the union between beer and weddings goes back over 4,000 years. The word "bridal" is a corruption of "Bride-Ale" – a special beer brewed for weddings; and wedding presents were traditionally given by guests in exchange for beer.

British brewers have always celebrated Royal events with commemorative brews. When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, 147 Royal beers were brewed to celebrate their marriage; and at the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, over 70 small and regional breweries brewed commemorative brews.


Beer is so much lower in alcohol than wine; and, served in a Champagne flute or wine glass, it’s just as elegant and far more thirst quenching. With top Michelin starred restaurants such as Michel Roux’s Le Gavroche, Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons and Sriram Aylur’s Quilon all serving a wide range of beers with their excellent food, the opportunity for the Royal household to serve beer at the wedding lunch seems ever more likely, too.

Comments Brigid Simmonds of the British Beer and Pub Association:

"Weddings are a fantastic time to celebrate with beer, and we hope that William and Kate, as future King and Queen, will be keen to enjoy their big day with the nation’s favourite drink."

Newlyweds have our national drink to thank for the tradition of a honeymoon as well. In Babylon, 4,000 years ago, it was common practice for the bride’s father to provide a month’s supply of mead (a sort of honey beer) to his new son-in-law for an entire lunar (moon) month. This honey beer was said to heighten the chance of producing a male heir, with the bride often taking herself to bed on the night of the wedding to allow the groom to drink his honey beer alone. He would then be brought, brimming with honeyed words and sweet murmurings, to the bride’s bedside. If, nine months later, a son was somehow sired, the brewer of the mead would receive gifts and adulation from the family.