A MEMBER of the Royal Family has formally "retired" for the first time.
Buckingham Palace yesterday announced that Princess Alice, Duchess of
Gloucester was giving up official duties at the age of 98 because of her
advancing years. Although the Duchess has not performed any engagements
outside Kensington Palace since 1995, it is the first time that a member of the
Royal Family has officially acknowledged their retirement.
The announcement follows recent media suggestions that the Duchess is being
shielded from public view because of a decline in her mental health. Stung by
the suggestion, her son, the Duke of Gloucester, yesterday issued a statement
clarifying the situation.
He said: "I am pleased to say that although frail, my mother is in good spirits.
Over the last few years, Princess Alice has, nevertheless, become increasingly
forgetful, which greatly reduces her ability to communicate in the way she
would wish. For this reason, my mother no longer feels confident in carrying
out official engagements away from Kensington Palace or in coping with the
clamour of social gatherings.
"She does, however, receive family and friends in the comfort of her home
and, occasionally, representatives from her regiments and charitable
organisations. My mother continues to enjoy partaking in family life with her
three grandchildren at Kensington Palace, her London home since 1970,
where she now lives permanently with my wife and myself, supported and
cared for in her retirement."
The Duchess's last appearance in the Court Circular was 12 days ago when
she received the outgoing general secretary of the British Limbless
Ex-Servicemen's Association in her capacity as the charity's patron She has
not, however, undertaken an official engagement away from home since her
visit to the Ladies' Guild of the St John Ophthalmic Hospital on Nov 29,
1995.
The Duchess will continue to receive a parliamentary annuity of £87,000
which pays for her staff and which is repaid to the Treasury by the Queen.
~*~
Queen Mother has cake with a kick(UK Times)
BY SIMON DE BRUXELLES
A BAKER from Somerset has spent ten weeks creating a
cake fit for a Queen Mother and has iced it with sugar
mixed with a special ingredient - gin.
The 40lb cake-with-a-kick will be presented to Queen
Elizabeth the Queen Mother when she celebrates her
100th birthday at Clarence House on Friday.
In deference to her age, and the safety of her guests, a
bronze horse sits on top of the cake rather than 100
candles.
Graham Chubb from Williton, Somerset, wrote to
Clarence House last October asking for permission to
create a cake in honour of the Queen Mother. When royal
assent arrived, Mr Chubb dug out a recipe created by his
grandfather in 1900, the year of the Queen Mother's birth.
Into the standard fruit cake mix has gone a secret blend of
spices and spirits. The icing is the ingredient of which the
baker is most proud.
Mr Chubb, 55, a baker for 40 years, said: "I have tried to
make it as personal as possible and include all her
favourite things. I know gin is her favourite tipple, so I
used that in the icing."
The Queen Mother's other interests are reflected in the
use of horses' head motifs and the statue on top. The
word "Congratulations" and the Queen Mother's
monogram appear in powdered gold.
The cake would have cost about £500, but Mr Chubb
has given it as a gift. More than 220 individual portions
can be cut from the 15in-square confection. It is
decorated with 500 handmade pink and white roses and
carnations, sweet peas, thistle, holly, acorns and oak
leaves.
Mr Chubb said: "I wanted to keep it as informal as
possible because I'm sure she doesn't want it to be too
stuffy. Obviously the horses represent her love of racing,
the thistle is for Scotland and the acorns and oak are for
England. I used the 100-year-old recipe because I
wanted to make the connection with the turn of the last
century.
"There is a lot of spirit in it and I'm sure she and the rest of
the Royal Family are going to enjoy it."
Mr Chubb first made a cake for the Royal Family in
1961, when he baked a christening cake for Viscount
Linley, Princess Margaret's son. He has since baked 16
cakes for the Royal Family, including a 21st birthday cake
for the Princess Royal and a silver jubilee cake and silver
wedding cake for the Queen. Mr Chubb, who teaches at
an hotel training academy in Minehead, receives a
thank-you letter every time he makes the Royal Family a
celebration cake.
He said: "It is always a great honour to make a cake for
the Royal Family and especially for the Queen Mother. I
think she is a marvellous woman."
~*~
Botanical spirit that brings a tonic to classic dishes(UK Times)
An enterprising chef would have no problem composing a
whole menu for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother based
on gin, though as a spirit it is less favoured in classic
cuisine than brandy, rum and whisky (Robin Young
writes). Gin's distinctive flavour derives from juniper
berries, so a splash of the spirit can be employed with
anything the berries themselves might be used to enhance.
That includes particularly pork and pheasant dishes. Sole
veronique (with grapes) can be flambéed with a glassful of
gin over a high flame at the end of cooking. Even
Women's Institute cookbooks have included recipes such
as gin and rhubarb parfait. Gin will also give a flavour
boost to any recipe in which coriander is a prominent
ingredient. Frances Bissell, the Times cook, said
yesterday: "I am all in favour of using gin in cooking. It is a
clean spirit and the flavour of its botanical ingredients,
juniper, coriander and angelica, does come through to
give the dishes an extra dimension.
"I use Plymouth gin as well as juniper berries when making
terrines of pork, pheasant or rabbit, and I infuse lemon
zest in gin to make sauces for white fish or salmon. I also
use it to make my own sloe or damson gin, with which I
then make sloe or damson gin cake. There is also a super
recipe in a cookbook by Robin Weir for gin and tonic
sorbet. I am sure the Queen Mother would love that."
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