The Queen's personal assistant and dresser will stay on living at Windsor as a final heartfelt thank you by Her Majesty to the scouse woman who became a close friend. Angela Kelly originally started as an Assistant Dresser at the Royal Household before becoming the Queen's most trusted member of staff.
She even moved into Windsor Castle to help the Queen with her mobility issues during her final months, with other royal staff members describing hearing them laughing away, enjoying each other's company.
As a reward for many her many years as the monarch's right-hand woman, she has been allowed to stay on in her 'grace-and-favour home' at Windsor, thanks to the Queen herself. Staff that worked for the Queen typically have a month's notice at the end of her reign to find another job, or be redeployed to another Royal household.
But it has been reported by the Mail on Sunday that the Queen gave her authority for Ms Kelly to stay in her grace-and-favour home after her death. An insider said: "The Queen was very clear that she was close to Angela and wanted to look after her people."
A straight-talking Liverpudlian, Angela, 69, is the daughter of a crane driver and a nurse, who grew up in a council house.She began her life with the royal family as an Assistant Dresser at the Royal Household but eventually became the Queen's right-hand women, with the impressive title, Her Majesty’s Personal Advisor and Curator (The Queen’s Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe).
The pair were said to chat about "anything and everything”, as they drank tea and swapped jokes and anecdotes about their grandchildren. In a rare interview with the Telegraph in 2007, she said: "We are two typical women. We discuss clothes, make-up, jewellery. We say, 'Would this piece of jewellery look nice with that outfit?', and things like that."
She added: "I do worry about her and care about her. But we also have a lot of fun together. The Queen has a wicked sense of humour and is a great mimic. She can do all accents - including mine."
Asked why she thought the Queen trusted her so much, Angela joked: "I don't know why the Queen seems fond of me - because I don't give her an easy time! I do think she values my opinion, but she is the one who is in control. She always makes the final decision."
It is thought it was that straight-talking nature that endeared her to the Monarch, with Bethan Holt, author of The Queen: 70 Years of Majestic Style, saying "Angela doesn’t suffer fools, and part of her appeal for the Queen is that she isn’t afraid of her."
"She’s very honest about things and that takes a lot of guts. The Queen appreciates that.” added Robert Hardman, author of Queen of our Times. "The Queen appreciates that.”
As time went on, Ms Kelly took on more of a lady-in-waiting role helping with her day-to-day life, sources say, and would even advise the monarch. When the two of them were alone, other staff often heard their laughter echoing down the corridor.
Famously, Angela played a prank on the Queen, when the two were on a Royal Tour to Australia in 2006. The Queen had been desperate to see a kookaburra while Down Under, so Kelly bought a toy one and tricked the monarch into thinking it was real.
She then told her the bird was dead, before revealing it was an April Fool joke. “[The Queen] had only two words for me: ‘You’re sacked’. I was laughing uncontrollably as her Majesty turned to His Royal Highness and said “Do you know what she has just done to me? Angela has had me!”
And as her mobility grew worse, the 69-year-old would sit with the Queen, making her laugh and filling Her Majesty in on the latest plot twists of television soap operas.
One source said: "The Prince of Wales came in one day to see his mother and was surprised that Angela had her own rooms there where she would watch the television rather loudly."
Ms Kelly was also said to wrap the Queen in "cotton wool" this summer, as she joked that her nickname was 'AK47.' During lockdown, she was, of course, part of HMS Bubble - a small ring of staff who left their homes and families to ensure the Queen and Prince Philip were safe and comfortable.
In her book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe - which she famously got permission from the Monarch to publish - she recalled how staff took part the 'Bubble Olympics', a series of activities including a rounders tournament, sprint relay and a game with balloons filled with water.
Staff were shocked to see Her Majesty present awards with trophies, after watching out of sight behind some bushes. She also opened 'Kelly's Salon', as she cut the Monarch's hair, later describing it as a "stressful" experience.
"The Queen thought I was a professional and started shouting at me, ‘Don’t do that, do it this way. That’s right, you’ve got it, don’t change it.’ I was thinking, goodness me, I need a gin and tonic,” Kelly wrote in her book.
Their relationship grew even closer after the death of Prince Philip, with Kelly one of the first to be informed about his death after family had been informed.
"Angela is a pivotal person in the Queen’s life and since Prince Philip died, she’s become her real go-to woman,” added Bethan Holt. "Lots of people describe her as the Queen’s gatekeeper, but it’s more than that – she’s almost like one of the family.”
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