How the Queen’s secret wish f inally came true
Dresser’s revelation about casual pose with hands in pockets
FROM humble origins, for a quarter of a century she has been the model of discretion.
Angela Kelly, the daughter of a Liverpool crane driver, has risen through the ranks at Buckingham Palace to became Her Majesty’s Personal Adviser and Curator (The Queen’s Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe) – in other words, the most powerful female figure at court.
She is renowned and, if truth be told, feared – not for nothing is Miss Kelly known throughout the royal household as AK47. Now the Queen has given her ‘gatekeeper’ her blessing to share details of their relationship in a book The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe.
Published today, it is serialised in Hello! magazine this week. From details of the rebellious ‘secret wish’ the Queen has held since she was young girl to her love of a bargain, the book is a trove of warm and insightful anecdotes that shine just enough of a spotlight on to life behind the palace walls.
There are photographs from Miss Kelly’s personal collection and Miss Kelly even manages to settle the occasional score with a few well chosen words. ‘The Queen was with me every step of the way,’ Miss Kelly says of the project, heading off any below-stairs rumblings of disquiet from fellow royal servants expected to remain silent to their grave.
THE QUEEN’S SECRET WISH
One of the most photographed women in history, the Queen – known in the business as ‘ one-take Liz’ – has mastered her regal pose. But, according to Miss Kelly, she had always longed to have her portrait taken in a more casual pose, specifically with her hands in her pockets.
The Queen Mother and her advisers had prevented this, however, feeling it would be i nappropriate. A few years ago, when researching her first book about the Queen’s wardrobe, Miss Kelly decided it might be time to make her boss’s long-held dream come true and the Queen agreed.
On the day, the photographer, Barry Jeffrey, attempted to explain how their shoot would progress. Mid-flow, the Queen raised her hand respectfully and said: ‘No, Barry, this is how we are going to do it. Just keep the camera rolling.’ Miss Kelly writes: ‘Her Majesty took her position in front of the lens and started striking a series of poses, slipping her hands in and out of her pockets and placing them on to her hips, mimicking the stance of a professional model. I stood in disbelief, the Queen was a natural.’
Miss Kelly criticises the Royal Collection, who decided to use only two pictures from the shoot in the finished publication, Dressing The Queen. ‘Their opinion was that these more candid photographs would bring the Monarchy down. Why they thought that, I have no idea,’ she says.
REGAL LIVING
Despite living in a 775-room palace, the Queen, Miss Kelly insists, is a ‘very modest lady’. She barely uses more than a handful of rooms daily: her bedroom, her private sitting room, her dressing room and a bathroom, as well as the Audience and Empire Rooms for meeting dignitaries.
‘These rooms aren’t vast and there is space for very little furniture, just the odd wardrobe or chest of drawers.’
Miss Kelly adds, waspishly, that it amazes her how many former members of staff share details about these private rooms when so few have seen them.
‘The only gentlemen that I have ever known to enter these rooms are the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Family, because the Queen’s privacy is the absolute priority among her personal staff,’ she writes. ‘There will always be people who will say anything for attention.’
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Gin and water are handy for giving the royal diamonds a little extra sparkle, Miss Kelly reveals. Similarly a drop of washing-up liquid and water helps to get rid of hairspray stains.
As for her outfits, the Queen finds inspiration in the oddest of places. Her 2017 Royal Ascot hat was decorated with cerise silk snake’s-head fritillaries – flowers – that she found in a Buckingham Palace storeroom.
The Queen also has a keen eye for a bargain and Miss Kelly often finds herself rooting around in the ‘bargain bucket’ for fabric.
When in Singapore, the Queen would always pick up a bolt or two of reasonably priced silk.
A few years ago Miss Kelly discovered that she could claim the tax back on the purchases as the Queen was a non-resident. The process took so long that she almost missed the plane. ‘The look on the Queen’s face was priceless as I handed her the tax refund,’ she writes.
PYGMALION PERSONIFIED
After impressing the Queen on a 1992 state visit to Berlin when she was working as a housekeeper to the British ambassador, Miss Kelly was headhunted two years later.
‘I couldn’t help but reflect on how I had ended up there: a divorced single mother from humble beginnings in Liverpool was on her way to interview for a position working with Her Majesty The Queen,’ she writes. Miss Kelly plucked up the courage to ask the Queen for an elocution lesson.
In a Pygmalion-style scene, the Queen asked her to pronounce the word ‘furious’. It took her several attempts. ‘I finally cracked it and Her Majesty exclaimed, “Yes!” And that was it – my one and only elocution lesson, and from the Queen herself.’
IF THE SHOE FITS.....
Miss Kelly confirms that she is the mysterious ‘flunky’ who wears in the Queen’s shoes to ensure they are comfortable. She and her employer share the same shoe size, reportedly a petite size four.
THAT EU HAT
In 2017 the Queen wore a blue hat embroidered with five yellow flowers to the State Opening of Parliament, sparking debate as to whether she opposed Brexit.
Miss Kelly reveals: ‘ It never occurred to Stella [the Queen’s milliner] and me that people might think we were copying the EU flag. ‘It was a coincidence but, boy, did it attract a lot of attention, and it certainly made us smile.’
The Other Side Of The Coin by Angela Kelly (£20, HarperCollins) is out today. Extracts appear in this week’s Hello! magazine, on sale now.