Revealed: Secrets of the Queen’s handbag

London, March 3: The Queen’s signature black Launer handbag, which has often been described as her “comfort blanket”, is more than just a utility item or a fashion accessory. The bespoke handbag, it’s been revealed, is used not just to carry a few personal items but also to send secret signals to her staff.

According to royal historian Hugo Vickers, the monarch uses her bag to send signals to her staff to indicate when she’s ready to move on from a conversation.

Mr Vickers told People magazine that shifting her bag from one hand to the other is an indication the royal is ready to end a chat.

“Luckily,” Mr Vickers said, “they’d let you down easy. It would be done very nicely. Someone would come along and say, ‘Sir, the Archbishop of Canterbury would very much like to meet you’”.

If she puts her bag on the floor, it means that the Queen is not enjoying the conversation and wants to be rescued. And when she places her bag on the table at an event, it’s a fiveminute warning to her ladies-in-waiting that she’s ready to leave.

Another secret signal is a discreet twist of her wedding ring, which the Queen uses to emphasise that she’d like to be moved on from a conversation quickly.

According to the Queen’s biographer, the handbag usually contains reading glasses, a mirror, lipstick, mint lozenges and a fountain pen. There’s rarely any cash there except for a crisply folded £5 or £10 note to donate to the church collection on Sundays.

According to Sally Bedell Smith, who wrote Elizabeth the Queen: The Woman Behind the Throne, the royal handbag also contains a portable hook which is used to hang it beneath tables.

Her love affair with the handbag began when she was sent a bag in 1968 by Sam Launer. Though the black patent model is her favourite, she has experimented with bold colours in recent years.