Afternoon Tea in Cinderella's Carriage

As I was about to write this post I had the urge to discover where afternoon tea originated from. So I googled. It seems Anna Russell the 7th Duchess of Bedford felt so hungry between her breakfast and dinner that at around 4 o'clock she asked for a pot of tea, sandwiches and a cake to be brought to her room. Thus from there she started to invite other ladies to join her and they began to dress for this rather fashionable social event that was up and coming, adorn in long gloves and fancy dresses. I love this little fact. If only afternoon tea was an everyday occasion as they did it back then. Nowadays we don't tend to have silver teapots nor do we scoff down scones on a regular basis or my waistline would not thank me!

My love for trying new places for afternoon tea still grows. For my Christmas present, my mum took me to the Tea Terrace in House of Fraser on Oxford Street where you have the chance to sit in a beautiful carriage much like Cinderella's. Yes it is VERY instagram friendly. Decorated beautifully with pinks and blue and lots of whimsical flowers. Everything is dainty and shabby chic and just so lady-like. Plus you can buy everything there including the teapots and the chairs!

FYI: Book in advance for the carriage though otherwise you'll be sitting in the normal chairs which isn't as fun 😉 and you're allocated 1 hour and 15 in the carriage.

You'll get the option of 3 different tea packages. They are all relatively the same with a change of cakes except the 'Celebration Tea' comes with prosecco. We had the 'Traditional Tea' which was delicious - An array of sandwiches, 2 scones each, little sponge cakes and lots of tea - what a dream!
They do have a selection of veggie sandwich options which were egg and cress, cucumber cream cheese and cheese and pickle. Not an expensive tea either unlike some I have been to.

That's another off the list!

Christina