The late Queen Elizabeth’s right-hand woman has lifted the curtain on life behind palace doors, revealing the monarch’s playful, no-fuss personality away from the spotlight.
Angela Kelly was Queen Elizabeth’s personal assistant, adviser, and royal dresser for almost three decades, from 1993 until the Queen’s passing in 2022.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kelly, who was previously slammed by Prince Harry in his memoir, opened up about her “cool granny” employer and the royal family.
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“It was just a normal loving family, to be quite honest,” she told the magazine about the British royal family.
The late monarch wasn’t one to make a mountain out of a molehill and had her priorities very clear, Kelly said.
“If [Prince Philip], or whoever was cooking, burnt the burgers she’d just laugh. As long as they had extra to put back on, and as long as all the family were fed and watered, that was all right. The queen was just full of energy and a really cool granny, to be honest.”
Image credits: Getty/Chris Jackson
According to the 68-year-old fashion designer, the queen’s favorite roles were those of grandmother and great-grandmother. She would shower her grandchildren with love and enjoy making plans with them, especially at Easter.
“The family would visit and she loved being granny. Her Majesty took her great-grandchildren out riding or walking.
“She did barbecues and fun things and she always washed the dishes, even when she was entertaining the prime minister.”
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Kelly further revealed that the late sovereign loved singing and had a great voice.
“I’d get carried away and be dancing all around her like I was at a disco, and the queen would tell me to ‘move over’ because I can’t sing, and we laughed.”
The two would listen to Radio 2 and dance together while Kelly helped the queen get dressed in the mornings.
One of her favorite songs to dance to? ABBA’s Dancing Queen.
“When the song Dancing Queen came on, she loved it, and both of us would dance. The queen would move from side to side and sing. They were moments to cherish, to see the queen so relaxed,” Kelly recalled.
Image credits: Getty/Max Mumby/Indigo
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Queen Elizabeth II, who was the longest-reigning British monarch in history, passed away peacefully in September 2022 at Balmoral Castle at the age of 96.
Kelly shared that the late monarch did not want people to know whenever she felt unwell.
“The queen was committed to doing her duty to the very end. Her Majesty never let anyone down. Even when she felt unwell, Her Majesty would not want anyone to know.
“As I worked alongside the queen, year after year we were getting older, but we were both young at heart, the queen still had a twinkle in her eye. The banter and mischief continued until Balmoral.”
Kelly was also known for getting people fired, earning her the nickname “AK 47”
She added of her final days, “When the queen passed away she was surrounded by her family. It was a shock to the nation, to everyone. It was very sad, but it was an honor to serve the queen until the very end.”
Kelly, the working-class daughter of a Liverpool docker and a seamstress, met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in Germany in 1992 while working as a housekeeper for the then British ambassador, Sir Christopher Mallaby.
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She was then invited to apply for an in-house position as assistant dresser at Buckingham Palace and sold her washing machine to purchase a dress for the job interview.
Kelly gave the queen’s wardrobe an update, trading her long skirts for slightly shorter, colorful dresses.
“I told her, ‘Your Majesty, you have good legs. Let’s show them off,’” Kelly told Vanity Fair. “Needless to say the hems on the clothes were raised.”
Some royal staffers felt “threatened” by Kelly, who reportedly had a clash with Prince Harry
According to a former senior aide who spoke with the magazine, Kelly’s close relationship with the monarch did not sit well with other royal staffers, who felt “threatened” by her power.
“She was technically a servant, but she was so much more than that. She became a confidante and a trusted member of the queen’s inner circle. People felt threatened by Angela, who could be ruthless.
“Private secretaries fell foul of Angela—she could make or break your palace career because she had the queen’s ear.”
Image credits: Getty/Chris Jackson
The palace aide said Kelly was even nicknamed “AK 47” due to her ability to have people fired.
Kelly’s high position in the palace led to a clash with the queen’s grandson, Prince Harry, ahead of his wedding to Meghan Markle.
The Suits actress was offered a specific tiara, the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau, but Kelly allegedly informed Markle that she was not allowed to use it for a try-on session.
“Angela was very much caught in the middle. Harry really went for Angela,” a palace source said.
“He wanted the tiara but the queen refused to let it leave the palace two weeks before the wedding. Harry was giving Angela hell. At one point he said, ‘Let me tell you, I don’t agree with you talking to my grandmother about this.’”
In his memoir, Spare, Harry blamed Kelly for the incident, claiming that she deliberately instructed Markle not to take the tiara for a trial session with the bride’s hairdresser.
People remembered the late Queen Elizabeth and shared their thoughts on Angela Kelly’s comments
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