The Cocktails Prince William and Kate Middleton Made in Northern Ireland Were Reportedly a Nod to Their Location
TL;DR:
- Prince William and Kate Middleton visited Northern Ireland on Oct. 6.
- They each prepared cocktails with mixologists while visiting a Belfast market.
- Royal journalist Rebecca English tweeted the cocktails were a nod to the Lagan river, which runs through Belfast.
- On a previous trip to the country, Prince William and Kate Middleton took turns as bartenders.
Royal cocktails. Prince William and Kate Middleton got behind the bar and made cocktails during a visit to Northern Ireland. Ahead, see how the couple fared in a cocktail-making competition mixing up drinks that were reportedly a nod to their location.
William and Kate made a surprise visit to Northern Ireland on Oct. 6
Royal engagements continue for the new Prince and Princess of Wales in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s Sept. 19 funeral. On Oct. 6, the parents of three made a surprise one-day trip to Northern Ireland. It marked their first time in the country since the queen’s death on Sept. 8.
There William and Kate visited various community organizations. PIPS Suicide Prevention Ireland, or PIPS Charity, kicked off their time in Belfast. They spoke with volunteer counselors while lending a hand assembling care packages, or “Little Boxes of Hope,” for children.
William and Kate also spoke with charity staff, counselors, and a client who shared how PIPs helped them.
The pair then made a stop the Belfast’s outdoor street food and market called Trademarket. There they competed to see who could mix up a cocktail the fastest. After, they talked with vendors and locals.
William and Kate’s trip to Ireland then took them to Carrickfergus, where they spoke with people from the Carrick Connect charity. Finally, they took a walk by the sea to greet well-wishers that had gathered.
Previously, William and Kate went to Wales in late September 2022. In the days immediately preceding their trip to Northern Ireland, they also embarked on a number of solo appearances. William made a speech at the United for Wildlife Summit. Meanwhile, Kate cradled a newborn at a hospital.
Prince William and Kate Middleton reportedly made ‘Up the Lagan in a Bubble’ cocktails as a nod to the river running through Belfast
“Who did it better?” William and Kate asked in the caption of their cocktail competition post on social media. They each served up drinks at Trademarket with mixologists standing by.
But what were the couple actually mixing up in those lowball glasses? Royal reporter Rebecca English tweeted that the Prince and Princess of Wales used gin, sherry, and more to create a cocktail with a nod to Belfast.
“I spoke to the lovely Will Neill from Trademarket who told me this was a ‘Up the Lagan in a Bubble’ – a reference to the famous river that flows through Belfast and local slang for ‘I wasn’t born yesterday,'” English wrote.
“It was based on ingredients from one of the collective’s vendors, Brew & Yaki, and included gin, fruit tea cordial, sherry, a Japanese plum-liqueur called umeshu and lime and passionfruit ‘bobas’ – tapioca starch ‘pearls’ found in Taiwanese bubble tea,” she explained.
Prince William and Kate Middleton poured beer during a 2019 visit to Northern Ireland
The cocktail-making competition wasn’t the first time the Prince and Princess of Wales stepped behind the bar while in Northern Ireland. In 2019 the pair took turns as bartenders while visiting Belfast Music Hall.
Vanity Fair wrote at the time that they engaged in some light-hearted banter over who would “pull a pint” of Harp Lager first. Kate gave it a try before pretending to distract William during his turn.
