Queen’s silent grieving
She shut herself away after Philip funeral, reveals aide
THE Queen grieved alone in silence after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, one of her most trusted aides revealed yesterday.
Angela Kelly described how the monarch shut herself away in her private sitting room after saying a final farewell to her husband of 73 years.
The Queen sat alone during the service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor because of Covid rules that prevented close contact between different households.
Miss Kelly – who was initially appointed as a dressmaker but has since become known as the Queen’s ‘gatekeeper’ – said: ‘I helped her off with her coat and hat and no words were spoken.
The Queen then walked to her sitting room, closed the door behind her and she was alone with her own thoughts.’
The poignant revelation comes in a new chapter of Miss Kelly’s book The Other Side Of The Coin, detailing her 28-year career with the monarch.
In extracts published in Hello! magazine, Miss Kelly, 64, gives an insight into life inside ‘HMS Bubble’ – comprising staff who stayed by the side of the Queen and the duke during the pandemic.
She told how her hands were shaking as she was tasked with cutting and styling the monarch’s hair during the lockdown, when her hairdresser could not visit.
Miss Kelly, who needed a stiff drink to calm her nerves, said: ‘The Queen was so kind as she advised me on the very specific way to put the rollers in.’
And she revealed the monarch watched from behind the bushes as staff held a ‘Bubble Olympics’ sports day at Windsor Home Park, before leaving the competitors ‘speechless’ by emerging to hand out prizes. But the most touching excerpts described the ‘sombre’ response of the Royal Household to Prince Philip’s death in April 2021.
On the day of the funeral, Miss Kelly told how the Queen’s staff at Windsor ‘stood to attention’ as the duke’s coffin was placed on the Land Rover he designed.
She wrote: ‘You could see the expression of sadness on everyone’s faces to see such a great and well-respected man making his last journey.
‘Their thoughts, I’m sure, were for the Queen, knowing she had lost a husband and a best friend. The nation shared the grief and their hearts went out to Her Majesty.’
The duke’s valets and pages walked alongside his coffin, and Miss Kelly said: ‘It was hard to watch our own friends saying goodbye to their amazing boss.’