Tom Hanks recalls his dinner conversation with the Queen - and her cocktail of choice
Watch: Tom Hanks recalls having dinner with the Queen
After years of speculation, Tom Hanks has revealed the Queen's cocktail of choice.
The actor – loved for his roles in Forest Gump, The Terminal, Cast Away and just about everything – recalled a special dinner spent with the royal and the then President of the US Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Appearing on the BBC's The One Show, the now 65-year-old was asked about the time he met the Queen, thought to be referring to the state banquet at Buckingham Palace in 2011.
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"The chit-chat with the Queen is something you have to get ready for, " he told hosts of the Monday evening instalment of the show Emma Willis and Jermaine Jenas.
"I knew I was going to be sitting next to her so I wanted to be able to talk about things that were important but not presumptuous. We spoke about how often she gets time off, et cetera."
He then added, "Out of nowhere, I saw this white gloved hand just put between me and Her Royal Majesty this glass of 'water'. But it wasn't in a water glass.
"It was a clear liquid. And so I dared to ask the Queen, 'and what is Your Majesty's cocktail of choice?'
"And she said...'ooh, martini!'".
Hanks said she just had "the one", which she "nursed" throughout the course of the night.
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"And I thought 'well, she's had a wonderful reign so maybe if I want to polish up my game a little bit I'll start having a martini every now and again," he added, clearly inspired by his dinner host.
However, in October 2021, around the same time she was told to pause her horse riding, Vanity Fair reported the Queen had been advised by doctors to no longer drink alcohol (except for special occasions) to ensure she stays as healthy as possible.
Her drink of choice was thought then too to be a dry martini of an evening – which we can now say Hanks, of all people, has confirmed.
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“The Queen has been told to give up her evening drink which is usually a martini,” the magazine reported a family friend had said. “It’s not really a big deal for her, she is not a big drinker but it seems a trifle unfair that at this stage in her life she’s having to give up one of very few pleasures.”
With the Queen's Platinum Jubilee just around the corner, time will tell whether that's a special enough occasion for her to enjoy her favourite tipple – but regardless, at least the rest of the public now knows what glass to raise to her.
