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Read our privacy notice . A great, British tradition, afternoon tea was supposedly first introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. Though many consider this story to be more of an old wives’ tale, The Duchess of Bedford (a close confidant of Queen Victoria) was said to often become hungry by around four or five o’clock in the afternoon.
She therefore required a light, fulfilling snack to delight the senses until a fashionably late dinner was served at approximately eight o’clock. According to Historic UK, the Duchess would promptly be brought a tray of tea, bread and butter. Other sources suggest that the concept of afternoon tea was brought back to England by Queen Victoria following a visit to Germany in 1845, when she visited Queen Elizabeth of Prussia, though many English spa towns have recorded serving the meal as early as the 1750s and 1760s.
Whichever story tickles your fancy, we can be sure of one thing: afternoon tea has distinctly regal connotations. It’s no wonder, then, that children across the country would choose teatime as their primary context for a game of make-believe, with a selection of teddy bears and dolls as their rather distinguished guests. Traditional .