Perhaps much more underestimated than any of the Queen’s personal attributes is that her deceptively petite figure is underpinned by a fireball of stamina and inexhaustible energy.
“I’m as strong as a horse,” the 94-year-old likes to say to those who suggest she might need a rest.
WATCH: Brilliant footage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II running
Long ago her grandmother Queen Mary warned her that the top job would entail endless hours on her feet, and she has risen to the physical challenge.
Elizabeth II’s endurance is “striking,” says biographer Sally Bedell Smith, who recounts the time the Queen was touring Canada when, after a long day of tightly packed events, the tour organiser suddenly realised he had not given the monarch a moment’s break, not even to use the loo.
“You need not worry,” said her private secretary. “Her Majesty is trained for eight hours.”
The Queen likewise never sits at palace events, unless it’s a dinner, and always stands during her Privy Council meetings. Those who wish to accompany the Queen have to keep pace with her.
A little-known requirement of becoming a lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty is the ability to stand for hours without tiring, and often be expected to go without food or drink.
Trained bodyguards have been known to tire in the wake of her limitless vigour!
You’d be hard-pressed to find the term “workout” in any biography of the Queen. The only real “weight training” Elizabeth has ever endured was done out of absolute regal necessity.
Insisting on wearing the traditional (and cumbersomely heavy) St Edward’s Crown for her coronation in 1953, Elizabeth II rehearsed for weeks prior, marching around the Palace wearing the 2.23kg jewel-encrusted crown, priming her neck muscles in readiness for the big event.
It’s an upper-body exercise that repeats every year at the State Opening of Parliament, when she usually dons an even heavier crown and then power-strolls to her throne under the 7kg velvet Robe of State. However, the Queen isn’t keen on revisiting the exertion more than necessary.
The Queen “is a great believer in sensible exercise,” says biographer Ingrid Seward, noting that apart from gentle gallops on her horses and a few occasional country sports, walking is her one constant source of physical activity.
When she’s in residence at Buckingham Palace, every day at 2.30pm she’ll go for a long walk around the gardens with her corgis.
Out in the country, at Balmoral or Sandringham, she’ll ramble a bit longer through moorlands and woods.
There are no fancy sneakers or lycra-clad, fast-swishing arm movements. Elizabeth simply walks naturally, with an “intentionally measured and deliberate pace,” to quote her long-time dress designer Norman Hartnell.
She will, perhaps, wear wellies and carry a walking stick if feeling particularly adventurous.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth’s favourite tea brews – Darjeeling and Earl Grey – claim a heap of benefits: no wonder she’s lived such a long, healthy life.
Darjeeling is a black tea which naturally contains polyphenols, the focus of studies for their ability to reduce the risk of illnesses, including cancer. One study found Darjeeling tea may help prevent the mutation of cells when drunk regularly.
Earl Grey (black tea with bergamot oil) has been the subject of research for its benefits on the heart. It has been found to help reduce cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure, which both aid in reducing the risk of developing heart disease.
