One’s a careful owner...Queen’s had bag 50 years
THE Queen may order several handbags a year – but she is still using one she has owned for more than half a century.
Among her custom-made collection of more than 200 by her favourite label Launer, the vintage accessory bears an unusual emblem that dates it to 1968 or earlier.
As well as appearing in numerous photographs, the bag was given a starring role in a 2018 portrait she sat for in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle.
“It was almost happenstance that it was placed there,” said artist Benjamin Sullivan when the portrait was unveiled in front of the
92-year-old monarch last year.
“It’s where she put it and I thought I could take it out. But then
I thought it’s actually quite a nice thing, a personal thing.”
A royal source revealed that the handbag was made by Launer for another company, Rayne, which for decades made the Queen’s shoes.
In 1968 the Queen awarded Launer her Royal Warrant and from then on it made her bags with its own twisted rope emblem.
She has, however, continued to use this distinctive bag. It was on her arm when she met US President Richard Nixon with Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1970.
She had it again when she hosted Bill and Hillary Clinton at the palace in 2000, then again for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2003 and at a 2017 Royal Horse Artillery parade.
The source added: “It is so nice that people know the handbags were made to such quality and professionalism. They last for such a long time.”