I wonder if the Queen ever used a hoover

[Wenwes]

I was fighting with my stupid hoover this morning and it occurred to me to wonder if the queen had ever had a similar issue. Did she know how to use a hoover I wonder? Or how to put a wash on? Or do a food shop?

This isn’t meant to be disrespectful by the way. I was unexpectedly sad yesterday even though I’m not a fan of the royals.

Of course she didn't. We paid for her to have all that stuff done for her.

I'm fascinated by this day to day stuff too. No idea but I doubt it.

I reckon she'd used a Hoover, but I can't imagine she ever put a wash on or did a big food shop. I think she'd have shopped locally when in Windsor/Balmoral in her younger days.

Apparently she used to wash up so I can see her using a little dustbuster for crumbs.

When they had the time filling talk on the tv yesterday, someone (who I assume was in the Royal Household at some point) said she liked washing dishes......

So, hoovering may be pushing it, but perhaps she did wash a few tea cups here and there.

I dunno. She knew how to drive which she didn't NEED to do. There's those pictures of her with Philip having bbqs etc.

It's not exactly hard to work a hoover, you plug it in and turn it on. I'd imagine she could work it out.

I was chatting to someone earlier & we were wondering if she had any friends or if she was lonely (but surrounded by people/staff all the time).

My granny was lonely at the end because my grandad died & then her friends & remaining siblings. Wonder if the queen was the same

Its long been said that the Queen in her private life lives quite simply. She kept her breakfast cereal in tupperware boxes!!
I don't think she drank much alcohol and was not a big eater, which would be a problem at banquets, as nobody is allowed to continue eating after the Queen has finished!!
Also I believe that no guests are allowed to retire before the Queen!!

Probably not, as she didn’t let the cleaners use one apparently🤷‍♀️
goldenglimpse.com/royals/queen-elizabeths-housekeepers-banned-using-vacuum-buckingham-palace-bizarre-reason

Have you ever seen the video of Charles not knowing how to iron? In a way that looks like he's not only never ironed but never seen anyone iron- I will try to find it.

I'm sure she did. I know someone who spent some time with her over the years. I understand that she was just like anyone else and would in a normal family stetting get up and tidy away after a meal etc etc, not just sit around all the time waiting for someone else to do it.

I did actually think I saw her in Waitrose once (in Windsor) looking at the greetings cards!

I don't think she drank much alcohol

She never got even tipsy in public, but the odd account of what it's really like at Balmoral or Sandringham shows that yes they drank - strong drinks (Queen's tipple being Dubonnet) and starting quite early in the day

Charles would have learned to iron at Dartmouth, surely no valet or batman there

I like to think she had an army of robot vacuums

I'm sure she did but there's no way she cleaned anything! She had staff for that!

I’m sure she did.

When she had guests round to her cottage, it is well known that she would ask them to do the washing up while she dried.

Probably not, but then I expect she did loads of stuff that most of us would have no clue about either.

Have you never seen the I Want To Break Free video? 😉

Yes, when she lived in Malta. I saw a programme about their life there (not about her hoovering but about her doing housework etc). And as she could take a car engine apart and put it back together, I bet she could mend the hoover when it broke as well!

They also had a little cottage where the Queen mum used to take Elizabeth and Margaret and they used to do cooking and household tasks, like, washing up etc, as a normal family without having servants around.

She loved washing up at Balmoral.
She also liked eating her tea off a tray outside there too. There is a photo of both these things that I've seen online and she liked her Tupperware too!

If I never had to hoover again in my life, I would totally not miss doing it. 🤣

when I was much younger a relative lived abroad and had a housekeeper (pretty standard in the country and his salary package had an allowance for it). I remember visiting and finding it really awkward. When I visited him, the housekeeper (who was lovely) wanted to do things like get me drinks etc, but I felt like an idiot asking her to when I could so easily have done it myself.

Maybe you get used up having people
do stuff for you. But I can well imagine wanting to wash up your own mug or make your own tea. The fact that someone else will do it if you don’t probably takes away the feeling of drudgery associated with it. I’ll never know though, so I’ll continue to resent having to hoover my own house. 🤣🤣

It's not rocket science so I expect she knew how to even if she never had to do it. She didn't strike me as an ignorant person who wouldn't care as long as it was done.

In Malta she probably had a cleaner/housekeeper/cook, but would have done the wifework of running the household and probably at least some chores.

Wasn't it said that those few years at the start of her marriage - when she was not in a large aristocratic/royal household and had a life within spitting distance of more ordinary people - were a time she looked back on with great fondness?