with correspondents in Japan, Russia, USA, Sweden; edited by Simon Palmer

To mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee, UK's Prime Tony Blair hosted a diner at Downing Street, the menu included cured duck breast with melon and pickled ginger, roast turbot, hollandaise sauce, Cornish new potatoes and golden raspberry cranachan. As reported in The Times on April 30th, guests drank Nyetimber 1993 (a British sparkling wine), Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 1995, Château Latour 1962, Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1985, Taylor 1955 port. To mark those five decades, Cognac Frapin Grande Champagne 1948 elegantly concluded this Jubilee Diner.

"If a Jubilee becomes a moment to define an age, then for me we must speak of change, its breadth and accelerating pace over these years," said the Queen. Everything moves on, she said. Everything, says The Times, that is, except the Queen herself. May we add Cognac Frapin's exceptional richness.

1 May 2002