Queen Elizabeth Was Understandably Confused by the \201cVodka Luge\201d at Prince William’s 21st Birthday Party

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published 2 September 2023

Queen Elizabeth had seen a lot by 2003 but was apparently quite puzzled by a so-called “vodka luge”—an elephant-shaped ice sculpture—at grandson Prince William’s 21st birthday party, party planner Johnny Roxburgh recalled. (Some of us just had shots at our favorite college bar for our 21st; when you’re heir to the throne, apparently you get a vodka luge.)

William celebrated his milestone birthday at Windsor Castle with an “out of Africa”-themed bash 20 years ago, and, per The Daily Mail, Her late Majesty (who would have been 77 at the time) saw the luge as someone was pouring vodka into the elephant’s head, prompting her to ask what it was.

“I remember when it was William’s 21st, [it] was a jungle theme,” Roxburgh said on Channel 5’s The Royal Borough: Kensington and Chelsea. “And we have an enormous vodka luge, which was made in the shape of an elephant’s head. And she looked at me and said, ‘What is that?’”

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And, in words that had to be surreal to say to the late Queen, Roxburgh replied “And I said, ‘Ma’am, it’s a vodka luge,’” he said. “I could have said it was a tin of Brasso, because she just looked at me confused and said, ‘Hmmm…’”

Roxburgh previously told Tatler that William was “wonderful to work with” and “charming beyond belief” as they planned the fancy dress-themed bash. “We created an African jungle at Windsor Castle with full-size elephants made from palm husk, table centers that would shame a Lion King headdress, a giant ice vodka luge in the shape of an elephant’s head,” he told Tatler in 2018. “I realized then that our future king is a very cool young man.”

For the party, the Shakarimba band from Botswana was flown in to provide entertainment for the 300 guests, which included the then Camilla Parker-Bowles (she would marry Prince Charles two years later, in 2005), actor Rowan Atkinson, and late socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. In 2003, William was a student at the University of St. Andrews, where he met his future wife, Kate Middleton; it’s unclear if she was in attendance at the party, though the two would have reportedly been dating by that time.

One can imagine, by the way, there was not anything resembling a vodka luge at the then Princess Elizabeth’s own 21st birthday fete in 1947.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.