Queen Elizabeth II’s reign over the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth states lasted for 70 years and 214 days until Thursday 8 September 2022, at 96 years of age. She was in good health and spirit for the significant majority of this time, and even when her physical conditional began to affect how she carried out her role, she carried out her final constitutional duty just two days before her passing. The pictures of the Queen with new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss at royal residence Balmoral Castle, where she asked her to form a government, epitomised the longest serving British monarch’s impressive commitment to serving her country until the end; they may have depicted a frail figure, but her calm composure and famous smile were ever present.
Intimate details of the Queen's health were rarely shared with the public, but she was closely monitored throughout her life by the royal family's medical team, according to The Guardian, and was known for her robust health. Bryan Kozlowski, author of "Long Live the Queen! 23 Rules for Living From Britain's Longest-Reigning Monarch," told The New York Post in 2020: "She has aged incredibly well and is the paradigm of health and wellness."
She caught COVID in February 2022, but had only been to hospital for three brief visits over her last two decades. Eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight — as the Queen did — are key to having a long and healthy life.
Health equals the greatest wealth
Further to The Queen’s civic role, she was a role model for mental and physical health. Reported to have a healthy diet, she drank alcohol in moderation and exercised regularly. Combining this with her stoic and measured approach to intense media attention towards her and her family, she represented qualities that many people aspire to have – and don’t necessarily have to be born into wealth or fame for.
In memory of one of the world’s most respected royal figureheads, we reflect on how Queen Elizabeth II’s health just might have been her greatest wealth.
Park life is just as effective as palace life
She loved to ride horses and made walking with her corgis around Buckingham Palace part of her daily routine. She would also ramble over the moorlands and through woods at Balmoral and Sandringham Estate. In a speech given when the Queen and Prince Philip visited the US in 1991, then-president George H. W. Bush complimented her on her long walks that "left even the Secret Service panting." She enjoyed time in nature, according to Kozlowski, and particularly loved the Scottish countryside around Balmoral, which she visited almost every year. The Queen also reportedly never smoked, and got good sleep.
Whatever your age, and despite some health conditions such as age-related arthritis, you can still find ways to exercise. For example, leading rheumatologist Dr Stephanie Kaye-Barrett advises how arthritis patients that exercise can benefit from increased flexibility, better sleep and maintaining a healthy weight.
While you may not have a palace to walk around, your local park can provide the open space to undertake moderate exercise on a regular basis – something that Queen Elizabeth clearly benefitted from.
Don’t deny yourself of a diet that you enjoy – and a giggle, once in a while
The Queen was "not a foodie," according to Darren McGrady, her chef from 1982 to 1993, and she is thought to have eaten simple meals. The Queen regularly ate healthy dishes such as grilled fish with vegetables or salad, but she couldn’t be true British Queen without treating herself to afternoon tea with Darjeeling sometimes. Who doesn’t enjoy an occasional selection of finger sandwiches and cakes? She reportedly enjoyed a gin and Dubonnet, a sweet fortified wine, every once in a while, too, and a joke didn’t go amiss either.
When dining alone, she was "very disciplined" and would often have low-carb meals, McGrady said, but she enjoyed treats and alcohol too. In the morning, the Queen was known to have biscuits and tea followed by toast and marmalade, cereal with fruit, or smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and truffle, as Insider's Ali Millington reported.
Before a simple lunch like grilled fish with vegetables, the Queen would enjoy a gin and Dubonnet (a sweet wine-based aperitif) with a slice of lemon and ice, McGrady said. She also liked a dry martini, but stopped having one daily last year for her health and to stay alert on the job, the royal sommelier told The Daily Mail in 2021. She also had a traditional afternoon tea of sandwiches, scones, and a "sliver of cake," alongside some darjeeling tea, Kozlowski said. When not at a function, dinners would often be fillets of beef or venison, pheasant, or salmon from farms in Sandringham and Balmoral, with something fruity for dessert. She also loved traditional British roast dinners on Sundays.
The Queen was a "chocoholic" and loved dark chocolate (which has various health benefits), McGrady told Newsweek. She would finish her day with a glass of champagne, according to Margaret Rhodes, the Queen's cousin.
Set your personal boundaries
Queen Elizabeth’s privacy and political neutrality are qualities that may have been one of the things that gave her the mental capacity to do her incredibly busy job of being a Queen for all. And when it comes to my work, even though I’m not addressing millions of people every year and handling state affairs in the most delicate yet effective way, I definitely want to excel at it like the Queen did at hers.
Esteemed Harley Street psychiatrist Dr Sunil Raheja discusses in his article ‘Thriving in stressful environments: Self-care for your mind and body’: “We have to do more things for self-care to put systems and processes in place to put your steps forward rather than always being on the backfoot.”
It seems deciding what you need for your mental health in order to do your job to a high standard, is something that even the Queen could have needed. She avoided expressing her political views and controversial statements in public. While some people may disagree with this, is arguably one of the reasons why so many people respected Queen Elizabeth II so highly.
https://www.insider.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-dead-diet-exercise-health-longevity-2022-9
