(cache) During second world war while the population had to use ration cards - did these also apply to the royal family and politicians like Winston Churchill? If so, how did Churchill get hold of his cigars and booze? | Notes and Queries

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YESTERYEAR

During second world war while the population had to use ration cards - did these also apply to the royal family and politicians like Winston Churchill? If so, how did Churchill get hold of his cigars and booze?

Harvey Birtch, Ipswich, Suffolk

Cigars and cigarettes and booze were never on ration except by availability (Churchill had numerous trips abroad so would have been able to stock up if his normal suppliers had been running short). Yes the Royal family and all the rest had ration cards (there was a big propaganda thing about Princess Elizabeth using her clothing coupons for her wedding dress as some rationing continued until well into the 1950s) . However as far as food is concerned when you have the whole of Balmoral, Sandringham, Windsor and not to mention Buck House gardens in which to Dig for Victory there was little chance of going short of veggies. Ration cards were only for food you bought in the shops not what you grew on your land. I think pigs, sheep and cattle needed to be registered so everyone had the same meat ration when at home. However the wealthy could always go out to dinner as restaurant meals were not rationed (except by what was available). The government did set up canteens called British Restaurants where working people could get a meal without coupons for a shilling or so. At the end of the war these were closed and replaced with the Luncheon Voucher scheme.
Glyn Baker, S. Ockendon U.K

Yes. Everyone had ration cards. The royal family's were used as propaganda to encourage others to comply with the system. People like Churchill don't buy booze and smokes piece small. They stock up years in advance. Nearly - but not quite - hoarding.
Peter Brooke, By Kinmuck Scotland

How did JFK happen to have a stock of high class Cuban cigars, despite the ban on importation after the Cuban crisis? He bought in advance of the ban which he imposed.
Brian Robinson, Brentwood

I don't know about that, but I recently read that when Princess Elizabeth married in 1947 she received an extra 200 clothing coupons like any other bride in the UK for her wedding dress: the interesting, and related, question is did she need them?
James Fanning, Greifswald, Germany

I think that it was also true that game was not rationned. So Princess Elizabeth's wedding meal was largely supplied from the grounds of Royal residences.
Duncan Myers, Manchester UK

Excuses and bullshit. The British royal family today should be executed as well as all their property redistributed to the the people of the UK. All the British living with very little food during the war as Churchill smoked his cigars, got drunk and ate like any king in the past has. A typical hypocrite as in you follow my rules and I wont. A fucking scumbag WC was and should have been hung by his own people as a traitor.
William Nash, Scranton USA

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