Throughout her reign the Queen has travelled around the world and with numerous engagements planned during each tour, there needs to be a range of outfits available for the Monarch to wear, as well as back-up options.
For a ten-day tour the Royal team can bring up to 30 outfits, which need to be carefully looked after to ensure they’re in pristine condition when the Queen arrives at her destination - cramming clothes into a tiny suitcase is not an option.
But dressmaker Angela Kelly revealed in her book The Other Side of the Coin that during one royal trip there was a wardrobe disaster at the airport, despite the best efforts of staff to pack efficiently.
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Initially the Queen would travel with three large, leather wardrobes which were very heavy for staff to carry and move around.
To make travelling easier, Angela came up with an alternative solution, which was to use hanging bags instead of the wardrobes, with two outfits packed per bag.
The Queen approved of the plan and the system seemed to work well, except when the Queen and Prince Philip made a trip to Italy in 2000.
It was pouring down with rain when they arrived at the airport and unfortunately one of the crew members made the decision to roll the rail carrying the hanging bags straight across the tarmac.
All the clothes ended up soaked through, and then to make matters worse a huge gust of wind blew the bags everywhere and sent the royal team into chaos.
Angela writes in her book: “I watched the whole thing happen in slow motion from the plane - I felt so sorry for them scrambling around trying to pick up Her Majesty’s soaked clothes.”
The incident led to Angela changing tack one more time, buying a series of lightweight suitcases on wheels, which the royal team still use today.
She writes: “I’m happy to say that this has been a successful and very welcome change.”
