Queen Elizabeth Was Once Forced to Sleep on a Couch in the Servants’ Quarters

Queen Elizabeth is the most famous living monarch in the world and, as such, one would expect her to rarely be inconvenienced or allowed to be made uncomfortable in one of her own homes. But that’s apparently what happened one evening as two of the Royal Dressers argued late into the night over their job and the Queen just wanted some rest.

The story goes that the Queen had two dressers, Peggy Hoath and Rebecca English, who often vyed to be the Queen’s favorite. While the competition was good-natured for the most part, one argument taking place at the Queen’s official residence in Edinburgh, Scotland got loud and went on late into the night in a room nearby the Queen’s sleeping quarters.

The Queen had enough of the noise

One would typically think that as their queen, Elizabeth could simply interject herself and tell the pair to give it a rest for the night, but that’s not what happened at all. The Queen, who was reportedly incredibly fond of Hoath, who worked for her for 35 years and passed away in December, didn’t want to upset the pair by requesting they quiet down and instead removed herself to another area of the house.

But apparently, the only place that was far away enough from the rowing women was in the servants quarters.

“No one could believe their eyes when she arrived in her nightie wrapped in her bedclothes and blanket. She just said, ‘I’ve got to get some sleep,’ and settled down on the sofa,” one funeral-goer recounted fondly.

“Everyone just looked at each other and shuffled out of the room to let the Queen sleep,” they continued.

Queen Elizabeth’s days of evacuation could possibly not be over yet, either. Due to the uncertainty and tumult surrounding the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, known as Brexit, old Cold War-era evacuation plans have been reinstated in case of unrest in Britain. At 92, one can imagine that’s something the Royal household has no desire to be embarking on in the coming months.