The British are famously obsessed with tea. It was described by the author, George Orwell, as “one of the mainstays of civilisation in this country.” During World War I, tea was one of the few items that escaped rationing as the British government feared that a lack of tea would lower national morale. During World War II, they stockpiled tea in warehouses located away from potential bombing targets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, tea was one of the items included in emergency packages provide
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Brilliant article. More! More!
Such a lovely informative and enjoyable writeup on tea. Many thanks.
Although a nice story, the Duchess of Bedford did not invent afternoon tea. It has been a long time corruption passed on through the internet.
She was no longer one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting after being sacked over a scandal. It was 1843 when she met with an actress Alice Kemble at Belvoir Castle and may have sent out for some tea and cakes, but the mistake was that Alice wrote in her diary that this was her first experience of afternoon tea. This was misinterpreted by someone writing on wiki in the 1980’s and since then she’s invented afternoon tea.
The first mention of Queen Victoria having afternoon tea with cakes was in Germany when visiting Albert’s relatives in the “German way” not the Duchess of Bedford’s way.
She was not a ‘great friend’ of Queen Victoria & certainly did not lament her loss when she died. The Duke of Bedford was a relative of the Prime Minister so she was invited so that Queen Victoria could discuss politics with the Duke.