It isn’t easy being a princess. A princess addresses large crowds and uses perfect manners. A princess must always be polite and sweet and sometimes repairs car engines and fixes tires. Princess Elizabeth Ⅱ really did so.

Before she was Queen of England, Princess Elizabeth wanted to join the ATS, a female branch of the British military. It was in World War Ⅱ , and women worked at jobs traditionally held by men.

Elizabeth was a teenager and first had to convince (使信服) her parents about her plan. Her parents thought it was too dangerous, but she would not take no for an answer. “ I ought to do as other girls of my age do,” she said firmly. After some months, her parents finally agreed. Princess Elizabeth did not receive any special treatment in the ATS. The only thing different was that she returned to Windsor Castle each night to sleep.

When she arrived at the ATS camp for her first day of training, she was greeted by a jacked-up car with its wheels off. In the following weeks, she learned to take apart an engine and then assemble (组装) it. The princess loved the training, admitting, “I’m a mechanic at last. I’ve scraped the skin off my knuckles.”

Princess Elizabeth worked on cars, trucks, and even tank engines. She also learned to read maps and drive cars, ambulances, and military trucks. To complete her ATS training, she was required to drive a big truck on her own.

The King and Queen thought driving a truck was too dangerous, but before they could let her know how they felt, they discovered Elizabeth driving a truck onto the palace grounds. She had driven from the ATS camp through the busy London streets all by herself.

Now at her old age, she still drives — sometimes in London but more often around her large property at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Being a queen requires a lot of hard work, but it can be fun as well. Queen Elizabeth loves horses and still rides four times each week. She also still likes to get a little dirty. She actively manages her estate farm at Balmoral and is often seen hiking through the countryside there.