The Royal Family have many hobbies, but did you know they share a love for a daring sport and Queen Elizabeth shocked everyone when she took part in it!
Finding things to do with the kids can be a struggle, especially as the winter weather begins to creep in and the evenings grow darker - though we are still holding out hope for a White Christmas this year! But no matter the weather, finding activities to keep children entertained is a constant, from trying out toddler-friendly games that won't break the bank or your will to live to trying out new and easy recipes for kids that break up the monotony of everyday.
It's great when you find that thing your children love and that keeps them occupied for at least a little bit. But the sport the Royal Family turn to to keep things exciting is perhaps a little too daring and a lot less than family-friendly for your average family day out.
That's because the members of The Firm have long enjoyed sky diving or parachute jumping and even the late Queen Elizabeth II got in on the action and surprised her family by jumping out of a plane - sort of.
The family's love for the daring and fear-inducing hobby was revealed back in 2017 when the then Prince Charles visited the Merville Barracks in Colchester to celebrate his 40th anniversary as colonel-in-chief of the Parachute Regiment.
During the engagement, the regiment's commanding officer, Captain Joe Palmer, told royal fans that Charles' son Prince Harry was 'a natural' at the sport and 'picked it up quickly' when he took a basic course with the regiment in 2012.
He revealed, "The Prince [Harry] joined us about five years ago, when he did the same as everyone else where you learn the basic course and you jump with a couple of instructors. He picked it up quickly."
It appears Harry was a little better at skydiving than his dad as King Charles revealed on the same day that he turned 'upside down' while skydiving for the first time and managed to land himself in the water rather than on land.
Recalling his first jump, which he did at the age of 23, the King shared, “I must say, I find it hard to believe that it has been 44 years since I became your Colonel in Chief and nearly 50 years since I made my first parachute drop—initially upside down with my legs in the rigging lines!—into Studland Bay, Dorset, where I was hauled out of the water by the Royal Marines."
But the most famous royal skydiver is by far Queen Elizabeth II. She shocked everybody at the London 2012 Olympics when she, sort of, jumped out of plane with James Bond into the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony.
The skit saw James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, enter Buckingham Palace, speak to the Queen, and then escort her to her awaiting plane. The pre-recorded video was played out to the audience and saw Queen Elizabeth hovering in a plane above the stadium before both her and Bond jumped out. Parachuters were seen gliding into the stadium before the Queen made her entrance in the same outfit she was wearing for the video - a touch that really sold the whole affair.
While the public was left surprised and delighted by the stunt, the Queen's family were even more shocked as the Queen had kept the whole thing under wraps to surprise them all.
Speaking about the day on the White Wine Question Time podcast earlier this year, Princess Eugenie said, "Nobody knew… it was amazing. We were all surprised.
“She was just one of the best people in the world. Her sense of duty and dedication and her love of her people, it really happened in public like you all saw, and it happened in private with us."
