When you think of what the typical contents of a 96-year-old woman's handbag might be, we are certain that a knife wouldn’t be very high on the list. Perhaps you may first think there would be a purse, an umbrella, maybe some knitting and the odd stray hardboiled sweet - and in The Queen's case, a marmalade sandwich - but certainly not a knife!
Well, it would seem that Her Majesty's signature Launer handbag is used to carry a penknife, among other things - and it certainly not for the reason you might expect. According to royal expert Phil Dampier, author of "What’s in the Queen’s Handbag And Other Royal Secrets", the monarch’s insistence at carrying a penknife is a "Throwback to her days as a girl guide”.
In 2016 he told HELLO Magazine that she packs "Treats for her much-loved corgis; sometimes a crossword cut from a newspaper by a servant in case she has time to kill; a penknife, a diary and a small camera”.
The Queen’s involvement with the Girl Guides has been widely reported on because a whole new association had to be set up in order for her to join.
In 1937, 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth was the heir to the throne and her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth wished for their daughters to have as normal an upbringing as possible.
Elizabeth was registered as a Guide and her younger sister, Margaret, was registered as a Brownie. The Queen Mother also acted as a patron to the organisation.
A troop of 20 Guides and 14 Brownies came together at the Palace and created the 1st Buckingham Palace Guide Company. Those involved were all children of the royal household and its employees.
The Palace transformed a summerhouse in the garden to make the Company's headquarters.
In the summerhouse, the princesses and their friends learnt and practised pitching tents, cooking on campfires, learning first aid and earning challenge badges like any other Guides.
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According to various sources, the Queen’s bag is also used to carry her glasses, mint lozenges, a fountain pen, a "metal make-up case”- which was reportedly gifted by Prince Philip - and "good luck charms including miniature dogs, horses, saddles and brass horsewhips… and a handful of family photographs”.
While the contents of the Queen's bag may sound strange, she also uses it to send secret signals to her members of staff.
As reported in Grazia , if Her Majesty places her handbag on the table at dinner, staff are to take it as a cue that she wants the event to end in the next five minutes.
If she places it on the floor, it signals that she is not enjoying the conversation she is currently in and wants to be rescued by her lady-in-waiting.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers explained that the queen always drapes her handbag over her left arm, so when she switches it, it’s an obvious sign that she’s bored and wants to move along.
While The Queen's handbag hack is genius, she isn't the only royal who used her bag for more than one purpose. Diana, Princess of Wales concocted a plan that involved the clever placement of her clutch bag when she stepped out of a car.
Diana herself dubbed the move as her 'cleavage clutch’ - as it protected her modesty from the prying lenses of the waiting photographers as she got out of the car. This move became a staple for the princess and was often pictured holding her clutch bag close to her chest.
Chelsea-based handbag designer Anya Hindmarch regularly helped the Princess of Wales with her accessories after she opened her West London store in 1993. Hindmarch told The Telegraph : "She was a very loyal customer and a lot of fun… she would come and see us with no bodyguards or any fuss."
The iconic designer continued: “We used to laugh when we designed what she called her ‘cleavage bags,’ little satin clutches which she would cover her cleavage with when she stepped out of cars.”
