This time last year I was donning my white flannels and taking the District line out to Wimbledon for strawberries and cream – in addition to the tennis, of course.  Stranded stateside this year, it looks like I’ll have to make do with Breakfast at Wimbledon.

Still, it puts me in a veddy British frame of mind.  And even though it is positively sweltering here right now, I am craving a full-on tea. What could be more British than tea?  Taking a proper cuppa with the Queen, of course.  And at Buckingham Palace, too.

This summer, from July 27 to September 29, as part of The Queen’s Year exhibition, visitors to London’s royal residence can have their cakes and eat them, too – almost – with tea on the terrace overlooking Buckingham Palace’s famous lawn and lake.  But don’t expect to see Her Majesty dropping by – the royal family takes up residence at Balmoral Castle in Scotland for the summer.