Meghan Markle does calligraphy, Queen Elizabeth collects stamps and Kate Middleton loves adult colouring books – the everyday hobbies of the British royal family
The British royal family may be terribly busy people, but that’s all the more reason to have earned some serious downtime. And it’s not all about the highbrow and luxurious for these relaxing royals, either – more often than you might imagine, they’re happy to pick up more mundane, and affordable, hobbies like doing magic and gardening.
Here are five favourite pastimes of the British monarchy – how many of them do you have in common?
Prince Charles – magic
Don’t tell the Muggles, but Prince Charles could secretly be a wizard as he’s quite fond of all things to do with magic. In 1975, the Prince of Wales became a member of the Magic Circle, a London society of magicians, after passing an audition. Decades later, we can imagine the 71-year-old continuing to pull off a couple of conjuring tricks for his lovely grandchildren.
Kate Middleton – adult colouring books
Adult colouring books recently emerged as a popular form of stress relief, and Kate Middleton is among the many harried adults who appreciate them. Prince William revealed in 2016 that the Duchess of Cambridge fills her spare time colouring the Secret Garden by Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford, who incidentally received an OBE for services to art and entrepreneurship.
“Prince William actually said that his wife likes to colour in the Secret Garden, which was really sweet,” Basford told The Telegraph after receiving the award. The Duchess also gets involved with art workshops for children across the globe.
Princess Eugenie – gardening
Possibly taking cues from the current “cottagecore” aesthetic trend, Princess Eugenie spends her spare time gardening. The 30-year-old former scoliosis patient is a fond patron of Horatio’s Garden, a charity organisation that plants beautiful gardens in spinal injury centres all across the UK.
Meghan Markle – calligraphy
Before getting cast in Suits and eventually marrying Prince Harry, Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle was a skilful calligrapher. Having learned the skill at her Catholic high school, she once used her decorative handwriting to create Robin Thicke and Paula Patton’s 2005 wedding invitations. Today, the 39-year-old sometimes shows off her skills at royal engagements, writing gorgeous notes for charity by hand.
Queen Elizabeth – stamp collecting
Besides caring for her beloved corgis, Queen Elizabeth has a surprisingly old-school hobby, one we’ve mostly only read about in Enid Blyton books. The 94-year-old English monarch owns an impressive collection of stamps, including one particularly rare Mauritian stamp issued in 1847, worth over US$2.5 million. Of course, being the face on England’s stamps since 1952 has to help with her street cred in the world of philately.
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From the queen’s quaint old pastime of collecting stamps to Prince Charles curious magic tricks to Kate’s more voguish adult colouring books – do you share hobbies with a member of the royal family?