Queen Elizabeth was "quite amused" to learn about the Jamaican bobsleigh team’s training regime during lockdown.
The 94-year-old monarch took part in a video call – using the screen name Windsor UK – with members of the armed forces to hear about how they had been coping amid the coronavirus pandemic and was "quite impressed" when L/Cpl Shanwayne Stephens of the Queen’s Colour Squadron explained he had been maintaining his fitness by pushing his girlfriend’s Mini Cooper around a Peterborough industrial estate.
The queen exclaimed "gosh" and said: "I suppose that’s one way to train."
Explaining the monarch seemed "quite amused" by the tale, L/Cpl Stephens added: "She had a big smile on her face when I said about pushing the car. I think she was quite impressed with that."
And Shanwayne promised to send the queen a souvenir if she backed his bid to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
He laughed and told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I’ll have to send her a T-shirt."
The queen also spoke with AB Sophie Levy, 22, who joined the call from on board RFA Argus in the Caribbean, and Lt Col Barrie Terry of the Yorkshire Regiment, who is currently in Bamako, Mali, as part of a UN peacekeeping initiative.
She said: "It’s very interesting to hear how far spread everyone is in different place. Obviously everyone has been extremely busy with the pandemic, and doing a wonderful job."
Lt Col Terry praised the monarch for her ease at using video conferencing software.
He said: "I think she took to the technology really well, she was very happy, very au fait with it."
And the queen understood the difficulties of family separation that come with being in the military.
He added: "I think with her background, she’s used to her grandchildren and her children at various stages of their life being away due to service in the Armed Forces, especially with Prince Philip."