The words "Queen Elizabeth" and "favorite chore" don't exactly go together, but despite having a palace full of chefs, butlers and maids, the late monarch loved getting her hands dirty (or in this case, clean). According to multiple royal sources, Queen Elizabeth would frequently grab a pair of rubber gloves and do the dishes herself—and this is one instance when behind-the-scenes photos would be incredible.
Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, once shared a story (via the Daily Mail) about how the late Queen horrified former prime minister Margaret Thatcher by doing the dishes following a picnic at Balmoral. Apparently, Thatcher insisted that Queen Elizabeth shouldn't be "cleaning kitchenware," but with her ever-present wit, the late monarch said, "Well I'll wash, will you dry?"
And in Gyles Brandreth's book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, he shares a similar tale involving former prime minster David Cameron. "I'm not making this up, you sat down and Prince Philip and Her Majesty The Queen served your dinner and cleared it away and washed it up while you sat talking with the other guests," Cameron told the author of his Balmoral visits.
As the years went on, Cameron—who was a repeat guest at that point—said, "I remember thinking it was sort of year five, I thought: 'Well, I now surely can help.'" But when he donned the rubber gloves and started washing, Queen Elizabeth pulled a Margaret Thatcher.
According to Cameron, "I remember Her Majesty saying: 'What on earth is the Prime Minister doing?' I'd broken with the protocol and rapidly sat back down and did what I was told."
Per the Daily Mail, a former royal courtier also experienced the late Queen's favorite activity in action. The insider told author Harry Mount, "I was once at a shooting lunch. At the end of lunch, I heard someone say, 'I’ll do the washing-up.' I turned around and there was the Queen in her yellow washing-up gloves."
Her penchant for dish-washing started in childhood, as Brandreth noted in his book. "Of course those of you who have read the wartime diaries of the Queen's childhood friend, Alathea Fitzalan-Howard, will know that Lilibet was always good at domestic chores," he wrote. In fact, Alathea noted in 1941 that her friend "actually likes washing up and does more of it than the rest of us put together."
