- I wanted to see what it would be like to follow the Queen's
lockdown routine every morning for a working week. - While it's impossible to know for sure how the 93-year-old monarch is spending her time in lockdown at Windsor Castle, I researched what her usual routine is at Buckingham Palace and adapted it to suit the current circumstances.
- For instance, Her Majesty reportedly usually eats her breakfast while listening to a bagpiper outside Buckingham Palace. I did this using bagpipe music on YouTube.
- At first glance, Her Majesty's morning activities seemed glamorous, with plenty of tea and biscuits, and morning baths.
- However, it was more challenging than I expected. The Queen likes the water in her baths extremely shallow, which made it not very relaxing at all.
- Not to mention, there's only so long you can listen to bagpipes without wanting to throw your headphones out the window.
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The world got a sneak peek into the Queen's new life in lockdown when she gave a rare televised speech from Windsor Castle earlier this month.
Her Majesty left Buckingham Palace in March to self-isolate at Windsor Castle — the world's largest occupied castle — with her husband Prince Philip.
Although the current lockdown on the UK means the monarch was forced to cancel some future engagements, she still appears to be working from home.
As someone who is also working remotely from my family home in Scotland, I wanted to see if I'd be able to adopt the Queen's morning routine every day for a working week.
While I don't know for sure how the monarch is spending her time in lockdown, I researched Her Majesty's usual morning routine and adapted it slightly to accommodate the current change in circumstances.
Using articles by Insider, the Daily Mail, the Crown Chronicles, and Cheat Sheet, here's the routine I came up with:
- Wake up at 7.30 a.m.
- Start the day with a cup of tea and cookies while listening to Radio 4
- Morning bath at 8 a.m.
- Have breakfast (oatmeal or cornflakes) at 8.30 a.m. while listening to bagpipers
- At 9 a.m. start paperwork and answer correspondence
- Walk the dog
Being the Queen for a week wasn't like I had initially planned
I pitched this piece to my editor weeks before I left London for my parents' home in Glasgow, Scotland, right before the UK went into lockdown in March.
So you can understand that in my mind, this would have originally involved me sauntering over for selfies outside Buckingham Palace before enjoying breakfast at a nearby restaurant.
Alas, it was not meant to be and like the Queen, who is deprived of some of her daily luxuries at the palace, I had to make do with that I had.
I got off to a good start on Monday, as I was in the kitchen for 7.30 a.m. sharp. The Queen starts her day with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits (cookies) as Insider previously reported.
Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with tea (I am British, after all) and so I would naturally start my day with a cuppa anyway. But having something sweet like cookies that early in the morning is definitely far from my regular eating habits.
I drank my tea while listening to Radio 4, as per instructions from the Daily Mail. For someone who never usually listens to the radio just for the sake of listening (it's usually on in the background while I'm doing chores or getting ready for the day), I found it quite relaxing.
Then it was time for my morning bath.
According to the Daily Mail, the Queen's staff make sure her baths are no more than seven inches deep. This seems like a strange rule to me.
I didn't have a tape measure on hand for my own bath, but I did make sure it was far more shallow than I would usually have preferred.
I have no idea why the Queen apparently does this — it certainly isn't comfortable — and ended up running the water for as long as I wanted from day two onward.
By the fourth day, I had already given up on one of the activities
The Queen usually enjoys her breakfast (oatmeal or cornflakes, according to Crown Chronicles) while listening to a bagpiper outside Buckingham Palace. Since both the Queen and I no longer have that option, I improvised and enjoyed a bowl of oatmeal while listening to bagpipe music on YouTube.
Here's the video I used if you feel the urge to try it yourself:
I felt patriotic as the famous "Flower of Scotland" started playing — but that was the extent of my enjoyment of this activity.
I won't lie to you, this is one activity I only kept up for the first three days, before resolving to spend the rest of the week enjoying my breakfast in silence.
I fell back in love with an old hobby that I'll be sure to keep up after this experiment is over
After that, the Queen usually starts paperwork at 9:00 a.m., and this includes replying to correspondence, the Crown Chronicles reports.
As Insider's royals reporter, my morning is usually busy looking for the latest news on what Her Majesty, Kate Middleton, and co. have been up to since I last checked.
I did manage to take some time to dabble in my own correspondence, however.
Her Majesty's usual paperwork involves reading and responding to official state papers, as well as selecting a few items of fan mail to personally reply to, and leaving the rest for her aides, according to Cheat Sheet.
I wrote two letters throughout the week. The first was to one of my best friends, Elena, who I haven't seen in almost two years as she lives in Spain. The second was to my grandma, who only lives a ten minutes' drive away. I haven't been able to visit since I returned home to Glasgow almost four weeks ago.
Exchanging letters is something I used to do regularly with both Elena and my gran, but as the years went on and life got busier I found myself doing it less and less.
This was a lovely activity that helped to break up my day, and it's a nice change from a phone call or video message. It's definitely something I'll keep doing throughout lockdown, and one day when this is over I'll be able to look back and remember this crazy time with the letters I received in return.
There was one activity I enjoyed more than the rest
By the time the last day of the experiment (Friday) rolled around, I felt like a bit of a failure. Not only had I changed the Queen's morning baths to suit my own preference, but I had also given up on the bagpipe music.
But there was one activity the Queen apparently does for exercise that I had no issue with, which is walking her corgis, as reported by Cheat Sheet.
Okay, so I don't have corgis, but I do have a beautiful border collie named Pippin who I was eager to take out for my one form of exercise per day.
Of course, I'm not sure if Her Majesty is still going for strolls during lockdown, but considering the grounds of Windsor Castle are quite big, I don't imagine she'd have to worry about bumping into anyone if she did.
All in all, I ended the week on a high. Yes, it's true that I wasn't consistent with all the tasks, but that just proves there's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to morning routines (even if the routine does belong to the monarch).
After working from home for almost a month, it was the first time I had implemented a strict schedule for my week, and it's now something I realize I should have been doing from the outset.
While I'll likely never follow the Queen's lockdown routine again, it has inspired me to start my own — and mine will definitely involve more letter writing and dog walks.
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