Andrew’s top birthday gift: Four gallons of wine (
he’s) Pity teetotal
HE HAS been teetotal since he was a teenager so I’m not quite sure what Prince Andrew would have made of one friend’s gift to help his 60th birthday celebrations go with a swing – a four-gallon bottle of wine.
As the menu for his recent bash reveals, Andrew was given caviar and a melchior – the equivalent of 24 bottles of wine, or four gallons.
The donation was made by Soheil Dadfar, an Iranian-born friend of Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, an autocratic regime accused by Amnesty International of human rights violations.
The allegations include the arrest and torture of gay and lesbian people, and banning free speech.
So unusual was Soheil’s contribution that he even received a message of thanks on the bottom of the menu.
Although Andrew has been keeping a low profile since his ‘car-crash’ Newsnight interview over his links with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, the menu shows that he is still determined to live like a king.
In addition to the melchior, guests at the party, held at Royal Lodge, the Duke’s home within the grounds of Windsor Great Park, were served a selection of fine French vintages to accompany each course.
They were treated to a starter of twice-baked cheese souffle with a £28.50 PouillyFuisse; fish pie and tenderstem broccoli washed down with a 2016 Nuits-StGeorges priced at £55 for the main course; and a selection of desserts including sticky toffee pudding and treacle tart, served with a £28 Chateau Villefranche sauternes.
The 50 or so guests at the party last month included Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone, racing heir Guy Sangster and Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to Britain. Soheil is married to Aida Mahmudova, 38, an artist and the niece of Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady of Azerbaijan. The couple live in London.