Queen Elizabeth's personal 'protocol' at Balmoral surprised her guests - but there was no way they could ignore it
Britain's longest-reigning monarch upheld a lot of regal traditions but this holiday rule was something she decided on herself
The late Queen famously spent her summers at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and it was one of the few places where she could enjoy just being "Elizabeth". While she was there, she swapped floral hats for headscarves and liked things to be a little less formal.
Tradition and ceremony are important to the Royal Family, but Queen Elizabeth's personal protocol meant that guests at her Balmoral BBQs were never allowed to wash up. According to former Prime Minister David Cameron, she cleaned the dishes herself and he found out that this wasn't a rule to break…
As per The Telegraph, he previously explained, "One of the best parts [of going to Balmoral] was when in the evening you'd get into Her Majesty's car, a Range Rover, and she would drive at breakneck speed up the hill and onto the moor."
Once they got up there they went to a "sort of converted bothy, an old cottage on the hill" and Prince Philip would be there barbequing. Lord Cameron added that the Queen's husband would have built the barbeques himself and he'd cook grouse.
"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," he said.
You might think it's only polite to offer to assist the hosts but the former Prime Minister tried this once - around year five of his time in office.
He continued, "I thought 'Well, I now surely can help' and got up and got on the Marigolds and started doing the washing-up. And 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."
During Queen Elizabeth's summer break it seems she took a more down-to-earth approach and the same was true when she was at other royal residences. After Philip retired from public duties in 2017 he moved to Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate.
On her and Reverend Richard Coles' Catching Up With The Royals podcast, woman&home royal correspondent Emily Andrews explained the couple behaved similarly at the "secluded" home.
In an episode in April, she claimed, "[Wood Farm] always has held a special place for him and the Queen. Often he and the Queen when Sandringham was open to the general public or whatever, he and the Queen would live at Wood Farm, doing their own washing up, maybe even stacking the dishwasher."
Sometimes while they waited for Balmoral Castle to close to the public, the couple used to stay at Craigowan Lodge where they also lived more humbly. Speaking on Channel 5's Secrets of the Royal Palaces, expert Wesley Kerr explained, "I think the Queen sees the grandeur in these amazing houses as, sort of, part of the job. But the Queen, like anybody else, can only be in one room at a time. So one room in a small house is probably a rather nice change."
For someone raised in royal splendour, it likely was quite refreshing - and freeing - for Queen Elizabeth to be able to live more simply and to do things for herself and her guests.
