The Queen's favourite hobby has nothing to do with dogs or horses

We love this.

princess eugenie queen elizabeth
(Image credit: Robert Perry/REX/Shutterstock)

We love this.

Royals are more like us than we think – with the Windsors being refreshingly relatable.

Gone are the days where we would only see a royal waving from Buckingham Palace balcony. Now they are accessible, all over social media, from Princess Eugenie dominating Instagram with her behind the scenes royal snaps to the Queen and Prince Philip’s Twitter account. They even share our TV addictions, love of emojis and favourite foods.

Even their hobbies are relatable, with it announced just this week that five-year-old Prince George would be starting ballet, just weeks after it was revealed that Princess Charlotte was taking after the Queen with her love of horse riding.

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge/REX/Shutterstock
(Image credit: HRH The Duchess of Cambridge/REX/Shutterstock)

But it emerged this week that one of the Queen's top favourite hobbies has nothing to do with horses - or dogs for that matter.

The hobby in question? Scottish country dancing.

Yes, it's an unusual pastime but the Queen loves it so it's good enough for us.

In fact, the 92-year-old is said to love the dance so much that she holds an annual ball at Balmoral Castle - known as Gillies Balls - where staff, friends and members of the community are invited to take part.

But her dancing is not only limited to Scottish country, with the monarch said to be a very good dancer, loving all genres of music.

In fact, there's a rumour that her favourite song is ABBA's Dancing Queen - something we really hope is true!

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.