You’ll Never Guess the Chore Queen Elizabeth Likes to Do Herself

One of the perks of being royal is having a staff to take care of all your chores for you. At least, that’s what we thought before learning that Queen Elizabeth supposedly likes to roll up her sleeves to tackle a typically dreaded household task on her own: washing dishes. That’s right, Queen Elizabeth has a favorite chore!

Although we find it hard to imagine the monarch standing over a sink and scrubbing up plates or cutlery, former royal butler Paul Burrell shared the surprising intel in a recent episode of a podcast called The Secret To.

Burrell, who once worked as Elizabeth’s personal footman, claimed that she likes to go on picnics while staying at Balmoral (the family’s Scottish home) where she will have food prepared for her, but will do the washing up herself when she returns.

“She is stood there with her Marigolds on and she washes up and the lady-in-waiting dries,” he said, referring to the floral brand name of popular kitchen gloves in the UK. You can grab some for yourself (Buy on Amazon, $7.99) to feel a bit more regal while sudsing up dishes here across the pond, too.

As nice as it is to know that Elizabeth isn’t above such a normal chore, we can’t say we’d do the same if we got the chance to be royal for a day. In fact, out of all the household duties, doing the dishes would probably be one of the first we’d love to pass on to someone else.

It’s unlikely that the Queen still rolls up her sleeves as she’s been struggling with health complications. After spending some time in the hospital, Her Majesty backed out of a few events after her doctors advised she rest. And that’s not all they advised her to miss out on.

Vanity Fair recently reported that doctors advised the head of the British monarchy to only drink on special occasions to ensure she stays in great physical health. Drinking can sometimes lead to health complications, like liver problems and an increased risk of accidents, in people as they age. Combating health issues is especially important as the 95-year old royal looks forward to her Platinum Jubilee celebrations next June. (The special event will mark the Queen’s 70th year of ruling over the British Commonwealth).

This article originally appeared on our sister site, Woman’s World.