Queen launches gin made with berries from Buckingham Palace gardens amid losses of £30m

Queen Elizabeth II has launched an official Buckingham Palace sloe gin for commercial sale just as the Royal Collection Trust, which manages the royal palaces, struggles to pay off significant debt.

The beverage, made with whole sloe berries hand-picked from the Buckingham Palace gardens, is now available for sale in royal shops at £30 for a 50cl bottle. The first batch of the gin was sold out online in a matter of hours. All profits from sales of the beverage will go to the RCT to help fund the care and conservation of the Royal Collection.

The Royal Collection's online shop describes the gin as having a unique and intense flavour, adding that the "red fruits and notes of cloves and kirsch spices deliver a clean and medium aroma intensity on the nose."

"The plums and cranberries create a light ruby colour and, combined with marzipan, it serves a medium sweet flavour with added bitterness from the citrus fruits and followed by the juniper and ginger spices," the description read.

The RCT also recommended a "Sloe Royale" cocktail that can be made from the gin. It suggested: "Pour a 25ml measure of Buckingham Palace Sloe Gin into a fluted glass, top up with champagne or sparkling wine and garnish with fresh berries or orange peel."

The new addition to the palace's beverage collection comes following the success of its London dry gin last summer. The £40 drink is made from 12 botanicals and hand-picked ingredients from the palace gardens including lemon verbena, hawthorn berries, and mulberry leaves. It helped RCT fill its empty coffers last year. The trust that manages royal art, jewels, the opening of palaces, and other such tasks, makes most of its earnings from tourism and was severely affected during the coronavirus lockdown.

The RCT itself confirmed that it had taken out a £22m loan in the summer, while it is suspected that it suffered a loss of over £30million, according to The Mirror. The charity had also asked its staff to consider voluntary redundancy but it wasn't enough to cover the losses.