Here's to you, Queen Elizabeth

As the Queen's Jubilee celebrations roll on, many restaurants and bars have concocted cocktails to celebrate the occasion. One we won't be ordering soon is the Savoy Jubilee Valentine, now being mixed at Bev Oda's London hotel of choice. Ingredients: Limoncello, gin, passion fruit, and banana and strawberry liqueurs. It sounds like Carmen Miranda's hat in a glass.

Her Majesty is said to favor gin and red Dubonnet over ice, with a twist. Although Tanqueray carries the Royal imprimatur, the Queen's gin is Bombay Sapphire; appropriate, as the Bombay Sapphire label for decades bore a portrait of Queen Victoria, the last British monarch to celebrate a diamond jubilee.

No word on what the other Royals will be knocking back, but we were pleased to note that when Prince Charles visited the teetotaling George W. Bush White House, he had the foresight to carry his own flask.

One can never go wrong with Champagne, and an 18-year-old single malt Scotch would not be amiss, while our Prairie correspondent reports that the favorite Jubilee beverage there will be No. 1 Hard Rye, the preferred drink on all high days, and on every other day, as well.

And now, a toast:  Here's to you, Queen Elizabeth! (Which can be sung to the same tune as "Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.")