The Queen Is Releasing 2 Unexpected Royal Products
Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Maybe that's why products branded with the United Kingdom's Royal Family tend to be pounds more expensive than the supermarket variety. This truism continues with two condiments that are supposed to join the range of products sold through the Queen's private estate.
As revealed exclusively to The Sun, Sandringham's online store is expected to stock a Sandringham's Tomato Sauce and a Sandringham's Brown Sauce. The former will elevate tomato ketchup with dates, apple juice, and spices, while the royal take on HP sauce will have vinegar and spices.
As The Sun notes, however, products crowned with such royal ingredients rack up the cost. The tomato sauce comes in bottles of 295 grams, or 0.65 pounds, for £6.99, which currently converts to $9.48. Compare this, The Sun commands, to a bottle of ketchup which sells for 60p ($0.81) in quantities of 460 grams, or a little under a pound. Similarly, a 600 gram bottle of HP sauce only costs the customer £2.89, or $3.94 for 1.3 pounds of sauce.
But what would you expect from a condiment branded by Sandringham House, one of two residences personally owned by the royal family (via Hello!)?
Brown Sauce is incredibly British
For some readers, the idea that the Queen has a branded tomato ketchup may be strange, but easy enough to grasp. Brown sauce, however, may require an additional description.
Brown sauce is — shocker — a brown sauce made from ingredients like tomatoes, molasses, dates, spices, and vinegar. In the U.K., as HuffPost notes, brown sauce is almost interchangeable with the HP brand, which "stands for Houses of Parliament." If you've never come across this condiment at your local pub, the outlet describes the taste as a "darkly spiced, slightly syrupy, savory flavor bomb that we can't get enough of."
According to Parker's British Institution, the brand HP became such a cornerstone of the common man's breakfast that the Prime Minister Harold Wilson felt compelled to lie, saying HP Sauce was his favorite, though he actually favored Worcestershire sauce.
Obviously, then, the Queen would have to produce her own version of brown sauce if she wanted to do a tomato ketchup as well. However, as one shopper told The Sun "If I'm paying £6.99 for a bottle of something I want wine in it." Otherwise, they'll stick to the more affordable and familiar HP.