When she was at Balmoral, she was free to play with her corgis, ride horses, and drive around in her Land Rover, she frequently wore merely a sweater, a blouse, a tweed skirt, a Barbour, a Hermès head scarf, and a pair of rain boots. But a queen is expected to do more. Elizabeth II is remembered for her knee-length skirts that she only wore with a matching jacket and cap and that were decrepit in every Pantone color. For a quarter of a century, Angela Kelly was hidden behind those rigid, consistently uniform looks that helped make her not only instantly recognized but also unforgettable looks for all of us. Kelly worked as a member of the royal household from 1994 until the day of the monarch’s passing, maintaining her wardrobe and acting as her lady-in-waiting until she was given the title “Personal Assistant, Adviser, and Curator to Her Majesty The Queen.”
We are just two regular women. We talk about accessories like jewelry and clothing, but we also have a great time together. The Queen is a talented impersonator and has a fantastic sense of humor.
She said in a rare interview with The Telegraph downplaying her relationship with the influential employer, but the truth is that over time a very close relationship of mutual trust has developed between the two women. It is Angela who Elizabeth relies on for style advice. It is her whom has included in the very small entourage with her during the lockdown. Angela is also the one person she wanted by her side when she was strongly advised a few months ago to hire someone who would live with her at Windsor Castle and could help her with everyday tasks.
How a Catholic religious woman three-time divorcee, daughter of a nurse and a Liverpool crane operator become the Queen of England’s stylist ? Right after she first met the Queen it was obvious what the solution would be for her . To start, we must travel back a few decades. In 1992 Kelly was working as a governess at Sir Christopher Mallaby’s residence of the British ambassador in Germany. Elizabeth and Prince Philip were invited to have dinner with them. The two royals spoke briefly with the 24-year-old and inquire about the embassy’s upcoming visitors. Angela invoked the Official Secrets Act and declined to respond out of respect for etiquette and her employers’ privacy, leaving the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh speechless. The personal dresser of Her Majesty’s offers Kelly, who has since moved back to the UK, a job as her assistant after noticing her commitment to duty and moral upstandingness. The following 30 years are filled with conversations, laughing, hours spent watching their favorite TV show, especially Coronation Street, and shared tons of fashion outfit tips.
Together, the two friends create a colorful wardrobe, among whose many standout items are the emerald green and sky blue ensembles Elizabeth wore for her jubilee. What techniques go into a queen’s appearance, and what secrets does it conceal? In two books that Kelly wrote with the monarch’s extremely unusual approach, she made it public. As we continue reading, we learn that Angela Kelly created four sketches for each style of clothing and gave them to the queen for review. The queen chose which ones to be made, preferably in functional and cozy materials such pure silk, chiffon, organza, and tweed. She preferred dresses with three-quarter sleeves so she wouldn’t have to worry about it falling into the potage during a meal, zippers rather than buttons if the day’s commitments required constant switching between inside and outside, and weights sewn into the hems so they wouldn’t lift in the wind. She possessed a vast assortment of handbags from the prestigious British company Launer, all of which had slightly longer handles than typical so she could wave to people as she carried them. Kelly also had to break in her specially created Anello & Davide shoes, which come in black or any neutral color and feature a 5 cm heel. The necessary accessories of the royal costume included pearls, hats, and, on rainy days, a transparent umbrella with a border that reflected the colors of the queen’s clothing.
Elizabeth’s outfits’ color selections were likewise not arbitrary. The colors were chosen in accordance with seasonal criteria, including taking inspiration from elements of nature like seasonally blooming flowers and plants, in order for Her Majesty to be clearly identifiable by both the security service and her assistance.
During spring, outfits were tinged with the yellow of daffodils, the pink of cherry blossoms, the lilac of bluebells, and the cream of magnolias; during summer, delphiniums influenced the blue and green ; during fall, browns and oranges inspired by ripe fruits and foliage; and during winter, party colors like gold, burgundy, or royal blue predominated. Because Elizabeth detested beige, it was outlawed and black was only allowed for funerals.
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