The Queen reportedly drinks four strong cocktails a day

Queen Elizabeth II is 94 years young. As the longest reigning monarch in British history, it's no surprise people want to know how she's managed to keep going for such a long time.

Royal author Bryan Kozlowski has recently written a book titled 'Long Live the Queen! 13 Rules for Living from Britain's Longest Reigning Monarch' all about just that, and one particular detail has sparked a lot of interest. Kozlowski mentions in the book that Her Royal Highness has been reported to be a very heavy drinker, knocking back up to four strong cocktails before the middle of the day.

A history of royal boozing

The Royal Family does have a history of being heavy drinkers. It's something that goes back several generations. The Queen Mother was such a heavy drinker, people used to joke she had a "hollow leg." Therefore, it's perhaps no surprise her daughter is partial to a stiff drink or two and even, in the words of Kozlowski, "outmatches her mother's self-avowed 'drinking powers'."

Kozlowski says that in "blue zones" (places with much higher life expectancy than the global average), it's common for people to have a daily drink to help them decompress. This comes from research conducted by Dan Buettner, a longevity expert who has dedicated serious time to researching the habits of people who live in these "blue zones" and seeing how much of an impact it has on their general health and well-being.

Of course, this is all rumour and gossip. Former royal chef Darren McGrady has disputed the four strong cocktails a day claim, saying the Queen would be "pickled" if she really drank that much every single day.

She is known though to have a strong drink or two though, especially during the more stressful royal engagements, so maybe it's just something that's been exaggerated by word of mouth over time?

Whatever the case, the Queen definitely enjoys a bit of alcohol and, in some ways, that makes her not that different from most of the rest of us...