Prue Leith has revealed the blunders she once made that left her red-faced while serving tea to the late Queen.
The Great British Bake Off star, 84, shared the embarrassing gaffes in a video uploaded by the Channel 4 show’s official Instagram page, @britishbakeoff, on October 15.
In the clip, Prue explained how her plan to take initiative backfired, as it resulted in a cuppa that wasn’t quite to the former monarch’s exact taste.
While Prue was the caterer at a building Queen Elizabeth II was opening ‘years ago’, she was enlisted to make a cup of tea for Her Late Majesty.
The baker said: ‘I rang up the Palace because I thought, “If I know how she likes the tea, I’ll be able to produce a good one.”‘
However, she revealed: ‘The equerry would not tell me. You’d think it was a state secret. He wouldn’t tell me how the Queen drank her tea.’
Prue explained that the equerry only informed her as to how to serve the beverage, and pointed her to a ‘silver tea tray’ in which it would be placed on, alongside a teapot, hot water and slices of lemon.
The equerry also advised Prue to ask the Queen ‘how she’d like’ her tea, to which the late monarch would respond with her preference.
On the day of the grand opening, Prue noted: ‘Well, I had to stand up. There was a long line of dignitaries that she was coming down, shaking all of their hands, and when she got to the end, I was standing there with my tray.
‘Poor woman must have been gasping for a cup of tea. She’d just toured around this building for two hours.’
Once the late Queen approached Prue, the Bake Off judge asked, ‘Black or white, Ma’am?’ to which the Queen responded, ‘Black, please.’
Prue proceeded to take a cocktail stick and spear a slice of lemon, before placing it into the cup and pouring hot water on top. However, to the star’s horror, the late Queen then said: ‘No lemon, thanks.’
Prue, who became panicked, explained: ‘I had no second cup. So I was just thinking, “What do I do with it?”
‘So, I put it down on the tray cloth, and of course the lemon, which has now been soused in tea, spread this great brown stain all over the tray cloth.’
She then ‘topped the cup up’ with hot water as she presumed that people who prefer black tea normally have it weak.
However, when Prue had just filled the teacup with hot water, the late Queen quipped: ‘I like it strong.’
Prue added: ‘She got weak lemony tea, when what she wanted was strong, black tea. I’ve felt bad ever since, but there it was.’
Viewers on Instagram were left in hysterics, while others took to the comments to share who they thought was really to blame for the blunder.
One person wrote: ‘I blame the equerry,’ while another said: ‘That was a bad situation and her equerry should have been able to tell you that. In fact, that should be info given to anyone serving the royals food.’
A third commented: ‘I wonder if The Queen told the same story with a mischievous smile.’
A fourth said: ‘Lesson is to listen when told “ask her how she takes it” not to just say “black or white?” and then assume the rest!”