Prue Leith Recalls Embarrassing Moment Involving Tea and Queen Elizabeth: ‘I’ve Felt Bad Ever Since’

Mar. 15, 2025

Prue Leith attends The RHS Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 20, 2024 in London, England and Queen Elizabeth smiles as she meets people from communities across Cornwall during an event in celebration of The Big Lunch initiative at The Eden Project during the G7 Summit on June 11, 2021 in St Austell, Cornwall, England.Photo:Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty; Oli Scarff - WPA Pool/Getty

Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty; Oli Scarff - WPA Pool/Getty

Finding out how the lateQueen Elizabethtook her tea was harder than one might think.

That’s according toPrue Leith, star ofThe Great British Bake Off, whoshared on Instagramthat finding out how Her late Majesty liked her tea was a bit challenging: “You’d think it was a state secret!” Leith said in the clip.

Leith explained that she was the caterer at a building Queen Elizabeth was opening years ago, and “I had to serve our late Queen a cup of tea,” she said. Attempting to give the Queen just the type of tea she preferred, she “rang up the palace” ahead of the engagement.

“I thought, if I know how she likes the tea, I’ll be able to produce a good one,” Leith said. The problem? “The equerry would not tell” Leith her tea preference. The staffer did, however, specify that the Queen’s tea should be served “on a silver tea tray” with a tea pot with hot water and lemon slices.

At the event itself, Leith said that, after greeting “a long line of dignitaries,” Queen Elizabeth “must have been gasping for a cup of tea. She’d just toured around this building for two hours.”

Then, finally — the moment Leith met the Queen. “Black or white, ma’am?” Leith asked. “Black, please,” the Queen responded. Leith then proceeded to put a lemon into the tea cup and, as she was pouring hot water, the Queen told her, “No lemon, thanks.”

Queen Elizabeth enjoying a cup of tea during a visit to the Grey Coat Hospital to mark its tercentenary.Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty

Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty

“When I had just come to the brim of the teacup, she said, ‘I like it strong,’ ” Leith remembered.

“She got weak lemony tea when what she wanted was strong black tea,” the restaurateur and cookbook author said. “I’ve felt bad ever since, but there it was.”

Queen Elizabeth has a cup of tea while in Northern Ireland on a royal visit in 1977.Anwar Hussein/Getty

Anwar Hussein/Getty

Apparently, Queen Elizabeth didn’t hold a grudge when it came to Leith’s tea snafu. In 2021, Leith was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to food, broadcasting and charity.

Leith certainly wasn’t the first person to flub in front of the Queen — and not even the first famous one.Helen Mirrenpreviously told PEOPLE thatshe was so starstruckwhen meeting the Queen and her husbandPrince Philipthat she didn’t know how to address the late Duke of Edinburgh.

“I mean, is it sir? Is it Your Majesty? Is it Your Highness?” Mirren said. “Is it rude to ask him to pass the milk? Or should I just ask for a lackey?”

Queen Elizabeth meets with Dame Helen Mirren (R) at a performing Arts reception at Buckingham Palace on May 9, 2011 in London, England.Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty

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After mulling it over, Mirren decided to just forego the milk. “I finished up not having any milk,” she said. “I just couldn’t sort it out.”

“It’s a lesson in embarrassment, but they were lovely, they were utterly gracious,” added Mirren, who portrayed Queen Elizabeth onscreen in 2006’sThe Queen.

source: people.com