The Queen gives cider a rosy future at Sandringham estate

While Team GB’s athletes look forward to celebrating their achievements with a glass of champagne, the Queen may toast their success with a brew of her own.

Mandrake hears that the Queen is to double the production of cider from apples grown at her estate in Sandringham. “Last year’s batch of cider sold out very quickly,” says a spokesman. “We have produced 2,000 bottles this year so far and may make more, but it very much depends on keeping the quality.”

The cider, which is believed to be the first commercially home-grown alcohol from the Queen’s estates, was initially produced as a trial batch of 350 bottles in 2010, but proved so popular, selling out within weeks, that production was tripled to 1,000 bottles last year. The drink, which is 6 per cent alcohol, costs £3.99 per bottle and can be bought only from the royal estate, which is privately owned by the Queen.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 91, is known to be very hands-on in the development of Sandringham’s farm and samples its products, as does the Queen.

The Duke of Cambridge, who uses the estate for shooting parties, has frequently proclaimed his preference for cider and had an apple named after him as a 21st birthday present. “Until recently, cider was seen as an old traditionalist’s drink but Prince William has turned that image upside down,” a Waitrose spokesman said when it credited the future king with sending cider sales soaring.

Sandringham has housed the royal apple orchards for more than 70 years after George VI planted the first tree on the estate.