Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Royals who do their own chores© Getty,Alamy

Do the royals do their own housework?

The late Queen Elizabeth II was known to wash her own dishes!

Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
January 22, 2025
Share this:

With numerous royal residencies across the country employing an army of hard-working staff members from gardeners to chefs, the senior royals undeniably have an abundance of help at their fingertips.

However, while it's certainly no secret that they have a litany of staff to assist them – far more than the average person – some might be surprised to hear that the royals aren't afraid of getting stuck into the mundane day-to-day tasks themselves.

When not at engagements or working on their charity initiatives and projects, the royal family prefer to live more humbly than some think.

Recommended videoYou may also likeWATCH: Inside the incredible royal residences

For example, tending to horses and animals has long been a hobby of royals including the late Queen Elizabeth II as well as Princess Anne, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise and more, proving they're not afraid to get their hands dirty with outdoorsy activities.

But it doesn't stop there, as plenty of anecdotes have been shared over the years proving that many royals do their own household chores...

1/6

Prince William and Kate's household bills at Adelaide Cottage revealed© Getty,Shutterstock

The Princess of Wales

The Prince and Princess of Wales have more than one home, but they mostly reside at Adelaide Cottage, located on the Royal Estate of Windsor Great Park, close to where Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis attend school.

The house itself is surprisingly humble with its four bedrooms and it was previously reported in MailOnline that once they moved their family into the house in 2022, William and Kate decided not to relocate their nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo with them, choosing instead to raise their children in as ordinary environment as possible.

The report also stated that they encourage their three kids to rope in with cooking, laying the table and clearing up, shunning any preferential treatment.

2/6

Princess Diana sitting on a set of stairs in a pink outfit© Tim Graham

Diana, Princess of Wales

It's perhaps unsurprising that Kate and William are keen to instil this ethic into their children as Kate grew up in a humble house in Berkshire and was raised without live-in staff. 

As for William, although he did grow up surrounded by servants and palace aides, he was raised by a mother who reportedly shared similar values.

Before her untimely death in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, famously preferred doing ordinary family things rather than enlisting the help of nannies constantly. 

She was pictured at many Sports Days with her boys and theme parks over the years, for example.

What's more, before she married then-Prince Charles in 1981, she worked as a nursery nurse and lived in a flat in London with three friends, meaning she would have almost definitely kept on top of the household jobs.

3/6

The off-duty monarch in 2021© Getty

Queen Elizabeth II

The late Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch and many adored her for her hard work ethic.

Many royal fans also loved hearing stories about how she would spend her time. 

As mentioned, it was well documented that the late monarch loved working hard at the stables, but she was also unafraid of throwing on some marigolds and doing the dishes.

Former butler for Princess Diana, Paul Burrell, explained on a podcast appearance in 2020: "[The Queen] does like to go on picnics, but the food is all prepared," he said.

"She likes to wash up. She puts on the Marigolds and when she goes out to the log cabin at Balmoral, she is stood there with her Marigolds on and she washes up and the lady-in-waiting dries."

4/6

sarah ferguson posing at film premiere© Getty Images

Sarah Ferguson

The Duchess of York lives at Royal Lodge with her former husband Prince Andrew and they too are fortunate to have staff on hand.

However, before entering royal life, Sarah had a brush of the ordinary while working in a Swiss ski resort.

Sarah worked as a chalet girl in Verbier, and this particular role would have required her to be responsible for general housekeeping, tidying and cleaning the chalet, and the role set in motion a lifelong love of the location.

5/6

Duchess of Edinburgh wears brown suit at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Canada© Tim Rooke/Shutterstock

The Duchess of Edinburgh

Like Sarah, Sophie, now the Duchess of Edinburgh, worked in a Swiss ski resort as a representative of Crans-Monana.

While it's not known exactly what Prince Edward's wife's role entailed, ski representatives are normally in charge of ensuring that trips run smoothly for holiday-makers, and involve liaison with hotels and chalets, ski schools and ski hire. 

We can imagine she got stuck into helping out with chores, too.

Sophie and Prince Edward now live at Bagshot Park on the Berkshire-Surrey border with their two children, Lady Louise Windsor and James Viscount Severn.

6/6

Prince Harry eating a yoghurt and Meghan Markle painting her nails in the kitchen© Netflix

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex live in a mammoth mansion in Montecito, California, with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet

But before relocating to the US, the couple lived at Nottingham Cottage, a relatively small cottage-style home on the grounds of Kensington Palace.

The couple lived a pretty low-key life with cosy nights watching the TV in front of the fire and cooking themselves up a feast in the kitchen, so it's likely they did their own cleaning up, too.

In fact, it's well-documented that they used to cook together alone as a couple since Prince Harry got down on one knee and asked Meghan to be his wife while they were roasting a chicken for dinner.

"It happened a few weeks ago, earlier this month, here at our cottage; just a standard typical night for us," Harry said at the time, to which Meghan interjected: "Just a cosy night, it was - what we were doing just roasting chicken… and it just - just an amazing surprise, it was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee." 


ROYAL FAN? JOIN THE CLUB

Welcome to The HELLO! Royal Club, where thousands of royal fans like you get to delve deeper into the wonderful world of royalty every day. Want to join them? Just click the button below for a list of club benefits and joining information.

More Homes

See more