How do the royals like to relax? From outdoor pursuits to evening relaxation

On the one hand, the royal family lives lifestyles most of us can never really understand. But on the other, they're still regular families and people.

Which is why it's no surprise many of us wonder just what the likes of the Princess of Wales or the Duchess of Edinburgh get up to when they're not on duty.

So how do the royal family like to unwind? From relatable habits to special hobbies, here's what the royals get up to when they're trying to relax.

How do the royals relax?

Photography

Catherine, Princess of Wales is known to love spending time behind the camera – making a change for all the time she’s in front of it!

The Princess has developed her talent over the years, going from a keen amateur to taking the official portraits of her children released on their birthdays each year, and she even shot the cover of Queen Camilla’s Country Life magazine. The late Queen Elizabeth was also thought to be an amateur photographer.

Horse riding

A love of horses runs deep in the royal family. Queen Elizabeth’s life-long love of all things equine started when she got her first Shetland pony as a child. She’d eventually ride horses around Balmoral and Sandringham with her family but also raise and train racehorses. Princess Anne and Zara Tindall inherited this passion, with both competing in horse jumping events at the Olympics.

Gardening

King Charles’ love for nature and gardening dates back decades. His Highgrove Gardens are legendary, and the estate produces its own products like conserves and jams.

Charles’ green-fingers come from his own father. Prince Philip was an avid gardener and was even the first person to cultivate black truffles on British soil.

Painting

King Charles III was known to find some peace out with his paints and portraits. With a love of watercolours in particular, Charles would take himself away from the madness for some quiet painting and musing.

According to the Telegraph, he describes himself as an "enthusiastic amateur," but that might be selling his talents sort. He has sold his paintings for a handsome sum in the past, and he was made an honorary member of the Royal Academy and the Royal Watercolour Society.

Binging boxsets

The royals: they really are just like us. As it turns out, the family aren’t immune to streaming the latest hit shows. In the past, William has spoken about how he and Kate watched every series of Game of Thrones.

According to the Express, they also loved BBC’s Killing Eve. Producer Sally Woodward Gentle revealed, “[Prince William] said he loved it. He talked about the dark humour of it, and Jodie [Comer] and Sandra [Oh], how amazing they both are.”

Reading

Their stories inspire fiction and their families are part of some of the craziest real-life stories in history. But that doesn’t mean the royals don’t enjoy distracting themselves with other people’s tales.

Queen Camilla, in particular, loves the written word, and The Queen's Reading Room Festival has become an annual tradition at Hampton Court Palace.

Walking their dogs

From the Queen’s iconic Corgis to William and Kate’s cocker spaniels, the royal family are known to love their pooches. So it’s only natural that, away from duties and city life, they love nothing more than going on rambling country walks through the 50,000 acres of Balmoral or taking in the Norfolk country air at Sandringham.

Ballet

A noble dance form, ballet has a natural connection to royalty. Over the years, many royals have pursued a passion for the dance, as a way to relax and escape. Princess Diana famously performed on stage at the Royal Opera House in 1985 and was a patron of the English National Ballet. William and Kate have revealed that Princess Charlotte has picked up a love for the dance, too.

Yoga

It feels almost expected for a native Californian to be into yoga, and Meghan Markle has been an avid follower of the exercise for years. In fact, her mother, Doria Ragland, is a yoga teacher, so the Duchess has said she’s been practising since she was a child.

Solo hikes

Getting out in nature really can be a salve – whether you’re stressed from the 9-5 or dealing with the pressures of being a monarch. King Charles is such a lover of relaxing in nature that he’s known to take long, solo walks.

He took on a three-day trek in the Himalayas in 1980, and in recent years, he’s been known to surprise cyclists and other people around Balmoral who stumble upon the King enjoying an unexpected bit of ‘me time’ out in nature.

Hedge-laying

Something of a niche art form and skill, hedge laying is one step above regular gardening – and it’s something King Charles has been known to enjoy. His Majesty is even patron of the National Hedge Laying Society and has hosted the National Hedge Laying Championships at the Home Farm, located in Highgrove Gardens.

Skiing

The royal family likes to relax by hurtling down steep mountains at dangerously fast speeds. Or skiing, as some call it. Not unusual for a family renowned for their sporting prowess, the royals start young – as children, William and Harry would go skiing with their cousins, Beatrice and Eugenie.

This has carried on, with William and Kate taking their children skiing. Klosters in Switzerland is thought to be a favourite skiing destination for the royal family.

Bird watching

When Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series debuted in 2022, we got to see Prince Harry enjoying a little-known pastime – birdwatching. In a clip from the show, Meghan is recording Harry and Archie together in the garden, taking in the sight of hummingbirds. Meghan says in the clip, “Papa is a bird watcher so this is a really big moment for him.”

A night cap

Who doesn’t love to relax with a favourite tipple? We know that the Queen reportedly favoured a Dubonnet, and Prince William, rather dashingly, has been said to bring Kate Middleton a Gin and Tonic in the evening to help her unwind before bed.

Cold water swimming

The Princess of Wales joined Prince William and Princess Anne for a special appearance on Mike Tindall’s The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast where she revealed a love for relaxing with a spot of cold water swimming.

She shared, "I really, genuinely love all sports. Personally, I love swimming wherever I can. Cold swimming - the colder, the better. I absolutely love it. Slightly to the point where William's [saying] 'You're crazy' and it's dark and it's raining. I will go and seek out cold water. I love it."

Firing up the BBQ

When they were off duty for the summer, the royal family simply became a normal family – which included the Queen helping prepare picnics, doing the washing up and Prince Philip taking over BBQ duties.

Heading to the local

Despite being royal, it’s not out of the normal for the families to enjoy a pub lunch or a quiet night at the local. Prince William and Kate Middleton, especially, have been known to enjoy quiet, under-the-radar nights out at Norfolk pubs over the years.

Polo

Since the days of King George VI, the royal men have been passionate polo players. Prince Philip, King Charles, the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry have all been known to be proficient at the sport, and their partners have often been spotted cheering them on at charity matches. Prince Harry even produced a series about the sport for Netflix in 2025.

Rowing

The sporty Princess of Wales likes to unwind with a number of sports, and one she is known to have loved is rowing. Kate was even set to take part in a race across the English Channel in 2007, as part of a 21-strong female crew, called The Sisterhood. However, security concerns meant it couldn't go ahead as planned.

Beekeeping

While visiting the Natural History Museum in South Kensington in 2021, the future Queen revealed she loves to spend some time in the gardens with another type of queen – a queen bee. She offered children some honey at the event, and revealed “I’ve got one spoon each. This came especially from my beehive… every time you see a bee say thank you so much because they make delicious honey.”

Driving

For some, driving is a case of getting from A to B, and can be stressful. But when you own properties with 50,000 acres of land like Balmoral, you can really just enjoy driving around carefree (and traffic-free).

The late Queen Elizabeth was thought to enjoy a jolly joyride in her Range Rovers, and, in another type of driving, Prince William had a passion for motorbikes (something fatherhood put an end to, alas).

Swimming

Prince William – a proficient water polo player – and Princess Diana are two royals who were thought to have found some peace and relaxation in the pools. A fun fact about Buckingham Palace – there’s a private pool where royals can have a splash.

Cooking

Cooking has become something the royals like to do more in recent times, with William and Kate reportedly cooking curries, roast chicken and pizzas at home. Meghan Markle is another royal who relaxes in the kitchen – and Harry proposed to her after a chicken dinner that she cooked. Meghan’s cooking skills will be on display in her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan.

Football

While William and Harry were thought to enjoy kicking the ball about the palaces as youngsters, the Prince of Wales really likes to relax nowadays by watching his favourite teams play. William has passed his love for Aston Villa on to George, and the pair bond over matches regularly.

Running

For some, it’s torture. For others, like Princess Beatrice, running can be a relaxing and rewarding pastime. In 2010, Beatrice even became the first royal to complete the gruelling 26-mile London Marathon.

Shooting

A more controversial way of relaxing, the royals are still thought to partake in the high society hobby of shooting. Events like the annual Glorious Twelfth shoot take place at Balmoral, where the royals hunt young grouse. They are also thought to still partake in an annual Boxing Day pheasant shoot.

Raising chickens

As a part of his sustainability efforts, King Charles raises chickens in his Gloucestershire home, Highgrove. He also adopted the British Hen Welfare Trust's (BHWT) millionth hen, Henrietta, in August 2024.

A night at the theatre

The royal family is known to frequent London’s theatres and some are bigger fans than others. King Charles’ love for William Shakespeare is well known, and his fondness for the Bard was represented at his Coronation Concert, where Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa was among the British actors who recited lines from Shakespeare’s plays.

Tennis

Athletic Kate Middleton is just one royal who loves to relax by working up a sweat on the tennis courts. If she’s not playing tennis, she relaxes watching it, being a regular attendee at Wimbledon each year. Kate is passing her love for the game on to her children, with Prince George receiving lessons from a former World Number One player, Roger Federer.

Board games

Speaking on her Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah podcast, Sarah Ferguson revealed there is one activity the royals unanimously love to relax with and bond over – playing classic games. Monopoly was off the list as it was said to cause rows, but, per the Duchess, “[they] love games, board games, card games, Scrabble, jigsaws."

Holidays

Separate from their royal tours – which combine work with travel – the royals like to relax with proper, private family holidays and getaways.

Some examples include Princess Margaret having her own holiday island, Mustique, and Prince Harry once recalling how he and Meghan got away for a romantic trip to Botswana.

During their engagement interview, he shared, “We camped out with each other under the stars. We were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other.”

Baking

Baking up a storm in the kitchen is a shared relaxing hobby for the royals. Each year, Kate Middleton is known to love baking a homemade cake for her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, on their birthdays. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh also revealed she can roll her sleeves up to craft a treat as she baked cheese and bacon scones as part of a Children in Need initiative in 2020.