Diplomatic storm in a teacup over US mother’s guide to a ‘British’ cuppa

NORMALLY the only debate is whether to put the milk or tea in first.

So when our ambassador to Washington saw a US mother taking liberties with the British cuppa, she felt duty-bound to act. Karen Pierce enlisted the help of the Army, Navy and RAF to demonstrate how to make the perfect brew in a video that has gone viral on Twitter.

Dame Karen, 60, was stirred into action when she saw a clip of ‘Michelle from North Carolina’, who lives in the UK, showing her daughter how to make ‘British tea’ by heating half a

‘Defines the UK-US relationship’

mug of water in a microwave oven. She then filled the mug up with milk, dunked a tea bag in the mixture and stirred in several spoons of sugar.

Dame Karen reacted by tweeting a reference to the 1773 Boston Tea Party that sparked the American Revolution.

‘The Anglo-American relationship is defined by tea,’ she wrote. ‘I see there’s huge interest in how to make a British cup of tea, so I’ve called in my military advisers to get this in the record.’

Her video showed forces personnel heating water on stoves, brewing the tea and adding a dash of milk. It has been viewed more than 200,000 times – a tenth of the number who have watched Michelle’s clip on TikTok.

The American’s effort was shown on ITV’s This Morning. Presenter Phillip Schofield said: ‘She put it in the microwave, then put all that milk in, then ten times the sugar.’ Co-host Davina McCall called it ‘an affront’.

Dame Karen’s effort is likely to have been in vain. Another video shows Michelle making her preferred brew – instant tea with milk, orange drink, lemonade powder, spices and sugar.