The royal family is steeped in tradition. That means that sometimes, they do things the old-fashioned way. There's one area of life where the royal family has not modernized, and that's bathing.
We know a surprising amount about the bathing habits of the royal family. Many senior royals, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, bathe exclusively. They don't believe in showering. They feel it's for people who are in a hurry, sources allege, which they are not.
As a practice, showering didn't become common until the 1930s and 1940s. Those were the earlier years of the Queen's life, so it's understandable why she continues the practice. Prince Charles seems to have continued on with the tradition.
Not only are the royals fans of bathing over showering, but they have very specific requirements for their baths. That leaves staffers to take on the task of drawing the perfect bath for the royals.
Being born into the royal family is a pretty spectacular thing. You only know life as a royal. There's no before and after, like there is for celebrities. As such, a lot of what royals know to be their normal is not the norm for everyone else.
Take Prince Charles, for example. Prince Charles was brought up being bathed, rather than showering. Though far more people shower now than bathe, he continues the old-fashioned tradition.
The so-called "pampered prince" earned that nickname for good reason. He has some very specific requirements for his bath. Those requirements are, of course, filled by staffers who will reportedly face a pretty peeved prince if they don't get it right.
"The Prince of Wales has grown up in such a privileged lifestyle that he doesn’t have the mechanics to choose for himself anymore," said former royal butler Paul Burrell in the Amazon documentary Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm.
"His underwear is folded in a certain way and his bath towel has to be placed in a certain fashion," he continued.
"When it comes to bathing the bathplug has to be in a certain position, the water temperature has to be just tepid, and only half full. And if anyone gets anything wrong everybody is scolded."
If Prince Charles is particular about his baths, it's because he learned from the best. Queen Elizabeth also has some specific needs for her baths. The Daily Mail's Brian Hoey shared details of the Queen's routine in 2018.
"While Her Majesty is enjoying her first cup of tea, her maid will go into the adjoining bathroom to draw the bath, which has to be exactly the right temperature: tested with a wooden-cased thermometer, and no more than seven inches of water," he wrote.
There's a reason why it's so important to get the temperature right. An accident with bath water led to some serious injuries for Princess Margaret. The late Countess of Snowdon was known to enjoy a lengthy one- to two-hour bath. One day, a hot bath left her with serious injuries.
Margaret was at her home in Mustique in 1999 when she decided on a bath. Sources say that Margaret got into the hot bath without issue, but when hot water from jets blasted at her feet, she was seriously burned. It led to complications that would sometimes force her to use a wheelchair, so the Queen is careful to have her bath water temperature measured before she gets in to avoid a similar fate.
In his book, Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret, author Craig Brown talks about Princess Margaret's feelings on baths versus showers.
"At 11 a.m. Margaret would have her bath drawn. She always took a bath because she and other royals believe showers are for people who are rushing out the door to get to work,” he explained.
Apparently, drawing the perfect bath for a royal is so serious that they once put up an ad looking specifically for those skills. According to the Daily Mail, the royals put a job on the Royal Household website in 2012 for a housekeeping assistant. You could get paid about $18,000 a year to run royal bathwater, as well as provide all kind of household services for guests of the royal family 40 hours a week.
If you're looking for one more fun fact about the royal family's bath habits, here it goes. The Queen probably uses bathing caps from time to time.
At least that's what we got from Prince Harry's epic gag gift to Her Royal Highness a few years ago. In keeping with the tradition of gag gifts on Christmas Eve, he gave his granny a shower cap that allegedly said "Ain't life a [expletive]?" on it. It was reportedly one of the Queen's favorite gifts!
