the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II
Here is a typical weekday morning for Queen Elizabeth II while in residence at Buckingham Palace in London:
7:30 The maid enters her bedroom with a tray of morning tea: 2 silver pots of Earl Grey, milk, and a few biscuits. The cup and saucer are bone china. The linen napkin bears the royal cypher “EIIR” (Elizabeth II Regent). The maid sets down the tray on a bedside table and crosses the room to open the bedroom curtains. She then turns on the radio which is tuned to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. The Queen listens to the day’s news as she sips her tea. Outside her window the traffic on Constitution Hill is building and people are strolling through Green Park. The maid draws a bath.
While the Queen is bathing, the maid lays out the first of perhaps many outfits the Queen will wear that day, depending upon the royal schedule. Once the Queen is dressed, the Queen’s hairdresser styles her hair.
8:30 The Queen joins her husband Prince Philip for breakfast which is served in the first floor dining room that overlooks the Palace garden. Prince Philip has had a shower and coffee. During their breakfast together, the Prince may place little morsels of food on the bird feeder outside the window. A tail-coated footman brings the breakfast – whole wheat toast with marmalade and more tea and coffee. The Queen reads her papers: The Daily Telegraph and The Racing Post.
9:00 The Piper to the Sovereign – referred to as the “Queen’s Piper” – steps into the Palace garden. He is wearing a kilt of Royal Stewart tartan and two eagle feathers in his headwear. The Queen and Prince Philip listen as he tunes his bagpipes. For the next fifteen minutes, the Queen’s Piper plays a selection of bagpipe tunes below the dining room window.
9:30 The Queen is seated at her Chippendale desk in her office to begin reviewing her correspondence. A footman comes in with her corgis, who have just had their morning walk in the garden. She works all morning. After lunch, she may take the dogs for a walk herself.
Above, a 1994 People magazine photograph shows Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral, her Scottish Highland hideaway she retreats to every August. Whether at Balmoral, Windsor Castle, or Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s weekdays start with a fifteen-minute bagpipe serenade at 9 a.m. When at Balmoral, though, the pipers wear the Balmoral tartan.
For more on Queen Elizabeth II, look in the left column “Categories-People-Queen Elizabeth II.” I’ve written many posts on the Queen; I hope you enjoy them!
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[…] via The Queen’s Piper « Lisa’s History Room. […]
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Hey, Lisa, am I missing something here? The post seems to end at 9:30 am and I was wanting to see her whole day’s routine! Is this the end of the post??
Mick
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Sorry!!! Yes, I was just aiming to tell about her morning bagpipe routine.
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Whoops, sorry Lisa! Didn’t read the title to this post carefully – it’s her morning routine!
Apologies.
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I m an American Loyalist living in Virgina and I love Queen Elizabeth ii.
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The Queen is endlessly fascinating. Thanks for visiting Lisa’s History Room.
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these are really good pictures of queen elizabeth
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I love the image of her at Balmoral. Thanks for visiting Lisa’s History Room, Jazmin, and keep coming back.
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here is a good picture of queen elizabeth.
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Hi,
Thanks for this info, Lisa.
I was surprised at how royalities wherever one finds them tend to do some things same way. In Nigeria, we talk of royal praise-singers. They wake a king up in the morning and send him to sleep in the night. They also accompany him to occasions, a large company indeed, especially among Yoruba people (South-West, Nigeria).
Instruments of the praise-singers include Iya Ilu (the lead, two-faced drum); Sekere (big gourd with hundreds of beads on string around it); Gong; a vocalist and the back-up singers. I really like it that Her Majesty, the Queen, even in modern time, still pays attention to a tradition such as listening to the piper. I consider the ‘Queen’s Piper’ angle very traditional, a beauty. It reminds me of what still takes in the palace of Alaafin Oyo of Oyo Kingdom), where my paternal great-grandmother came from.
Wish Her Majesty and Prince Philip longer life.
Tunji, Abuja, Nigeria.
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Tunji, this is fascinating stuff. Thanks for visiting.
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Hi Lisa,
Why is Her Majesty’s birthday officially celebrated in June (in Britain), rather than April 21, her actual birthday?
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There is better weather in June (for Trooping the Colors, etc.).
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Are u gonna put more info?
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Sarah, what info do you need?
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Hello,
EIIR is Elizabeth Regina (latin for Queen) not regent as previously stated.
Her Majesty’s father George VI used ‘George R’ as his signature and GVIR as his cypher – this was George Rex (latin for King).
A
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Hi Lisa, you may please check out what I wrote about Her Majesty in a newspaper:
http://thewillnigeria.com/opinion/4114-CELEBRATION-THE-QUEEN-QUEENS—ELIZABETH.html
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Tunji, thank you for sharing this lovingly-written article.
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Tahnk you for your interesting information on Queen Elisabeth II. I am writing (in Portuguese) a History of England and woull like to know whether I can use the Photograph of Queen Elisabeth (not the one on horseback) in my book. It´s very beautiful. Thank you.
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Hello, Elvio. I do not own the rights to the photograph. May I suggest you visit the official website of the British Monarchy for help:
http://www.royal.gov.uk/
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thankyou for having breakfast with me.
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