As if the royal duties alone weren’t enough!
As a member of a royal family, your agenda is often packed with all kinds of important obligations. Yet there are a number of royals who have found the time to develop other, less official skills. From truck driving to selling art for staggering amounts of money, these are the surprising hobbies that royals excel at.
Zara Tindall
Most are already aware of Zara Tindall’s impressive talent. The royal is a talented rider and has even won an Olympic medal for this. Her riding career is now on the back burner, as she says she likes to spend more time with her children. “I only have four horses so now I have enough time to take care of my children and still practice equestrian sports. (…) I certainly don’t go everywhere anymore,” Tindall told The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine. She is absolutely right of course!
Prince Albert of Monaco
Although few are aware of it, Prince Albert of Monaco is not only married to a famous Olympian: he is one himself! Albert participated in five consecutive Olympic Games, where he was part of the Monaco bobsleigh team. The royal started his bobsleigh career in the mid-1980s and has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1985. Fun fact: he also met his sweetheart Charlene during a sporting event in 2000. The athletic background of the sports enthusiasts clearly created a bond, as they are still happy together more than 20 years later.
Queen Elizabeth
The late Kings Elizabeth also had a special hobby. The deceased monarch was trained as a mechanic. So she learned to repair and drive trucks and became a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service at just 18 years old. This made her do it only female member of The Firm to have served in the military.
Royal biographer Jane Dismore wrote: “The war gave Princess Elizabeth a humanity that she might otherwise have discovered later.” On the day the Second World War ended in Britain, she mingled incognito with the crowd outside Buckingham Palace in her ATS uniform. This took place seven years before she came to the throne.
Queen Margrethe
We conclude with the most creative royal of them all: Margrethe of Denmark. The 83-year-old even recently won a prestigious Robert Award for costume and set design in a Danish film. In response, Margrethe wrote on Instagram: “I am deeply grateful, touched and proud of the recognition that the Robert award represents.”
Even after she became queen in 1972 and her schedule was undoubtedly overflowing, she worked passionately on various creative projects. Margrethe became involved in Danish ballet as a scenographer and costume designer, collaborating on a whole series of productions.
Source: Daily Mail UK | Image: NL Image
