10 Historical Royals Who Had Hidden Talents

Like many royals, the future Queen Lili'uokalani received a top-rate education. It was obvious from an early age that she had talent as both a singer and a musician. She had perfect pitch and was proficient in guitar, piano, organ, autoharp, and zither. She was also a gifted songwriter who wrote over 200 songs in her lifetime, including the iconic "Aloha 'Oe." That song was inspired by seeing a goodbye kiss between one of her friends and Col. James Harbottle Boyd, at Boyd's ranch. But Lili'uokalani was born in a time of transition for Hawaii, as Western plantation owners began arriving and imposing their culture on indigenous people. Lili'uokalani spoke both Hawaiian and English, and while many of her songs contained both Hawaiian and English lyrics, she wrote them using Western-style song structure. By doing so, she essentially created a new genre of music. While many of her songs were romantic, Lili'uokalani's music also reflected her turbulent times. After the US government took over Hawaii in 1893, she was placed under house arrest, and during this period her songs became more political. At one point, she wrote lyrics addressing her people and their situation and published them in the newspaper. Then, an anonymous songwriter wrote supportive lyrics. The two continued a public correspondence for three months that became the song "Mai Wakinekona a Iolani Hale," or "From Washington Place to 'Iolani Palace."

Frederick the Great would grow up to become the third king of Prussia in 1740, almost all of his 46-year reign was marked with military aggression against neighboring countries. And from an early age his father, Frederick William I, encouraged him to pursue a military career. But Frederick's first love was music. Like many royals, he received a musical education from the finest tutors and proved to be gifted as both a flute player and a composer. Unlike most royals, his lessons had to be kept a secret from his father. In adulthood, Frederick pursued music writing for recreation. Altogether he wrote 121 sonatas for flute, four flute concertos, one symphony, and several various arias. In 1747, he gave a piece of music to Johann Sebastian Bach, who turned it into a composition called "The Musical Offering." While many viewed this as proof that the king's musical talent was incomparable, in reality Bach may have written the piece as a criticism of Frederick's authoritarian regime.

Fans of The Crown are no doubt aware that Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter, Princess Anne, is a competitive equestrian, but they may not know just how accomplished she is. Anne was exposed to horseback riding at an early age - her mother is a passionate horse breeder and her father Prince Philip was an avid polo player - and by age 11 Anne was riding competitively. As she told Vanity Fair in 2020, since Anne's three brothers were in line for the throne, horseback riding was the best way for her to gain recognition. "I thought if I was going to do anything outside of the royal family, horses was likely to be the best way of doing it," she said. During her career she won three European Championships. She was the first member of the British royal family to be named the BBC's sports personality of the year in 1971, and she became the first British royal to participate in an Olympic Games in 1976.

Some royals were born to be royals, while others would have lived completely different lives if not for their birth. In public, Emperor Hirohito was the ruler of Japan who brought his nation into WWII and was considered to be a living god. But his life's true passion was marine biology, and he managed to make several discoveries while ruling an empire. Following the example of Prince Albert of Monaco, marine biology was a popular subject among young royals in the early 20th century, and this trend is probably where Hirohito caught the marine biology bug. In 1919, he discovered a new species of prawn. In 1925, Hirohito had a two-story marine biology lab built on the grounds of the Akasaka Palace. Rather than devote his studies to marine life with commercial uses, Hirohito chose hydrozoans, which were tiny, tentacled polyps growing on the seafloor. After WWII, he published 32 books of plates, in which he described 44 new species.

Many Ottoman sultans like Mehmet II and Suleyman the Magnificient were enthusiastic patrons of the arts and occasionally produced works of art themselves. For Sultan Abdul Hamid II, who ruled from 1876 to 1909, his two main artistic passions were opera and carpentry. Abdul Hamid II made many notable contributions to opera, writing many of the first translations of European operas into Turkish. But his woodworking was a lifelong passion. The sultan did woodwork as a way to relieve stress and fatigue, and he had a small carpentry shop installed at the Yildiz Palace complex where he could work. He produced many quality pieces of furniture, some of which are said to still be on display in the palace. Abdul Hamid II's personal carpentry tools were displayed to the public for the first time in Istanbul in 2019.

It may not seem likely that a tiny principality on the southern coast of France would have a thriving Olympic bobsled program, but it very much does, and it's all thanks to Prince Albert II. The young royal was a bobsledding enthusiast who successfully lobbied for it to be added to the country's winter sports program. The prince competed in five consecutive Winter Olympics from 1988 to 2002. Although his teams never placed higher than 25th, the bobsled program remained a part of the Monaco sports scene after his retirement. In 2012, the small nation won its first Olympic medal for the two-man bobsled. If this all sounds like Monaco's answer to Cool Runnings, Hollywood apparently agrees. Albert II co-wrote a story based on his experiences launching Monaco's bobsled program, and in 2015 it was adapted into the screenplay Royal Ice. No updates have come out since then, but anything is possible.

It wasn't a surprise when then-Prince Felipe of Spain participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics, as he comes from a big sailing family. His mother, Queen Sofía, and uncle, King Constantine of Greece, both sailed in the 1960 Olympics. His father King Juan Carlos sailed in the 1972 Olympics. And his sister Infanta Maria sailed in 1988 at Seoul. But the then-24-year-old Felipe's participation in the 1992 Barcelona games was special because they were held in his home country. The future king competed in that year's Soling event, a yacht race with a three-person crew. They came in sixth place. After his Olympic run, Felipe scaled down his racing career as he prepared to become king, which he did in 2014 when his father abdicated. Not to be outdone, the former King Juan Carlos returned to yachting in his retirement and won the 2017 Six Meter Class World Championship in Vancouver, making him world champion at age 79.

Tennis originated from a medieval handball game called jeu de paume (game of the palm) in the 12th and 13th centuries, and from there it evolved into real tennis. This is an indoor version of tennis played on a court with three walls and sloping roofs called penthouses, which are all in play. It also uses a heavier racket and ball. Far from the heavyset monarch plagued by various health ailments that he was in his later life, a younger Henry VIII was an enthusiastic athlete who enjoyed martial sports like jousting, javelin-throwing, archery, and wrestling. Real tennis made its way to England and Henry was reportedly a force. In 1519, an ambassador from Venice watched a 28-year-old Henry play tennis and later wrote, "It was the prettiest thing in the world to see him play; his fair skin glowing through a shirt of the finest texture."

For many royals, extracurricular pursuits are so appealing because they allow them to escape from the pressures of their duties. Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, fourth in line for the throne, described race car driving as an "oasis" where he can be himself. Since 2008, the prince has entered 152 races, winning eight. He currently competes in the Swedish Touring Car Championship, its highest racing league. Carl Philip points to his great-uncle, Prince Bertil, as his inspiration. Bertil was himself an avid racecar driver in the 1930s, competing under the pseudonym "Monsieur Adrian" to avoid a scandal due to his royal status. His father King Carl XVI Gustaf is also an avid driver. But not everyone in his family has been supportive. After a 2016 car crash, some Swedish royal family members pressured the prince to step away from the race track. He did avoid professional racing in 2019 to spend more time with his family, but returned in 2020.

Roman historians weren't shy about writing with a point of view, so any firsthand biographical information about Roman emperors has to be taken with a grain of salt. Depending on whom you believe, the Roman Emperor Nero was either a megalomanic sadist who fiddled while Rome burned, or a sensitive artistic type with the totally wrong career. In Nero: The Man Behind the Myth, Richard Holland argues for the second interpretation, portraying Nero as a ruler who preferred writing poetry and playing the lute-like kithara to military and government matters. Was Nero actually any good? Roman historians like Juvenal and Tacitus mocked Nero's artistic endeavors, but modern historians have argued that this was politically motivated and not a sincere criticism of his abilities. But Nero apparently thought he had talent. Like many Roman emperors, he identified himself with deities. Based on his coinage, Nero believed himself to be a singer and lute-player on par with Apollo, god of prophecy and oracles, music, song, and poetry.