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Charles II, after losing the Battle of Worcester, fled to Europe where he stayed for nine years [1][2]. There he discovered tea. He also discovered Catherine of Braganza, a tea drinker (like most of the Portuguese nobility) whom he married [3].

In 1660 the British monarchy was restored. Charles and Catherine then introduced the custom of tea drinking to the British court.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England

[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Braganza




You're all way off.

A pair of Gauls and a Breton (by pure coincidence) brought tea to England.

It's all documented in history books such as this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_in_Britain

:)


The demand for tea amongst the English aristocracy predated production in India.

The main impetus for the English to grow tea in India, was that it was costing too much to buy from the single monopolistic source, China. Basically, the Honourable Company was trading opium for tea. More money could be made, meeting English demand for tea, by producing it on Company controlled land.

The question is, where did Catherine of Braganza source her tea from? India, as suggested by the grandparent comment, or China.




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