What are the Queen’s favourite tipples?

Drinks at the palace

The Queen was reported to have given up regular drinking. What do we know about her drinking habits (or what she likes to offer her guests) to judge by the royal warrants she has issued?

— These drinks firms currently hold warrants: Bacardi Martini; Berry Bros and Rudd; Britvic soft drinks; Bollinger; G.H. Mumm et Cie; Krug; Lanson Père et Fils; Laurent-Perrier; Moet & Chandon; Veuve Cliquot; James White drinks (tomato juice); Laphroaig distillery.

Testing, testing

From 24 October, travellers to Britain will no longer be required to present a negative PCR test for Covid, but will be able to use lateral flow tests. Will this mean extra cases of the disease getting into Britain?

— A study of surgeries in Austria by Queen Mary University, London, directly compared test results from 1,037 people suspected of having Covid. Some 826 of them tested positive on a PCR test, whilem 788 tested positive on a lateral flow test.

— A study by Porton Down and the University of Oxford last year found that lateral flow tests succeeded in picking up 77% of cases of Covid-19. However, they were much better at picking up people with high viral loads, who were more likely to be infectious, detecting 95% of these cases.

Covid blues

How did Covid affect our wellbeing (according to the government’s wellbeing index)? Scores on a scale of 1 to 10.

How satisfied are you with your life nowadays? 2019/20 – 7.66, 2020/21 – 7.39

To what extent do you feel the things you do are worthwhile? 2019/20 – 7.86, 2020/21 – 7.71

How happy did you feel yesterday? 2019/20 – 7.48, 2020/21 – 7.31

How anxious did you feel yesterday? 2019/20 – 3.05, 2020/21 – 3.31

This reverses a decade of improving scores.

Having babies

The Total Fertility Rate for women in Britain fell to 1.58,