How the Queen ensured her loyal aide Angela Kelly – a docker’s daughter from Liverpool – would be allowed to stay at her grace-and-favour home near Windsor Castle following the monarch’s death
- Angela Kelly began work as an assistant dresser at the Royal Household
- In lockdown she was indispensable as the Queen’s hairdresser, dresser and aide
- Staff who work for the Queen would typically have a month’s notice to move
- Ms Kelly was also granted extraordinary permission to secure a three-book deal
- Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing
One of the Queen’s most trusted confidantes is set to be allowed to stay on in her grace-and-favour home at Windsor – thanks to the Queen herself.
Angela Kelly, a docker’s daughter from Liverpool, began work as an Assistant Dresser at the Royal Household before becoming indispensable to the Monarch.
Her reward was a grace-and-favour home a short walk from Windsor Castle.
Staff who work for the Queen typically would have only a month’s notice after the end of her reign before they would either be redeployed to another Royal household or look for alternative employment.
But now it seems that the Queen had given her authority for Ms Kelly to stay in her grace-and-favour home after her death.
Angela Kelly, a close confidante of the Queen, is set to be allowed to stay on in her grace-and-favour home at Windsor – thanks to the Queen herself. Pictured receiving her RVO in 2012
So favoured was she by the late Monarch that Ms Kelly was also granted extraordinary permission to secure a three-book deal. Two of those memoirs have been published and another is set to be released.
An insider said: ‘The Queen was very clear that she was close to Angela and wanted to look after her people.’
Ms Kelly who is said to want to spend some time in America now the Queen has died, was originally hired for her fashion expertise. But she soon developed a close bond with the Monarch.
As the Queen’s mobility failed, Palace sources say that Ms Kelly could often be found sitting with the Queen, making her laugh and filling Her Majesty in on the latest plot twists of television soap operas.
Latterly, as the Queen’s number of public appearances decreased in line with her ability to move around in comfort, it was Ms Kelly who sat with the Queen at Windsor.
One source says: ‘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.’
As time went on, Ms Kelly took on more of a lady-in-waiting role, sources say. She would fetch and carry and even advise.
The influence of the down-to-earth Liverpudlian could even be seen in some of the Queen’s public appearances – far beyond what the Monarch chose to wear.
As the Queen’s mobility failed, Palace sources say that Ms Kelly could often be found sitting with the Queen, making her laugh and filling Her Majesty in on the latest plot twists of television soap operas. Left to right is Caroline Rush, the Queen, Anna Wintour and Angela Kelly in 2018
It was Ms Kelly who encouraged the Queen to visit the set of Coronation Street in Manchester when the ITV studio marked its 60th anniversary in July last year.
And what did the Queen choose to wear? An Angela Kelly outfit in a bold teal with a matching hat.
The anecdote was revealed in Ms Kelly’s second memoir, The Other Side Of The Coin.
The trip went ahead with Ms Kelly recalling: ‘She doesn’t watch Coronation Street, but I filled her in.’ She adds: ‘I was thrilled that the Queen chose my outfit and my hat to wear for the event.’
When she was chosen to accompany the Queen on the day, Ms Kelly recalled: ‘I was so giddy you’d think I was walking on hot sand.’
The book also tells of how, during lockdown, Ms Kelly and a team of staff formed HMS Bubble – a Covid-free ring around the Queen designed to keep her safe while continuing to look after her comfort.
While the courtiers sacrificed time with their families to avoid catching the virus and passing it on to the Queen, there was also fun to be had during lockdown.
Ms Kelly, who started working in the Royal Household in 1994, reveals that the staff took part in the ‘Bubble Olympics’, a series of activities including a rounders tournament, sprint relay and a game with balloons filled with water.
To the astonishment of staff, Ms Kelly said the Queen herself emerged one day. After watching out of sight, she came from behind the bushes to award the winners with trophies.
When the Queen’s health failed, Ms Kelly remained by her side.
In lockdown she opened ‘Kelly’s Salon’ – making herself indispensable as the Queen’s hairdresser as well as her dresser and aide.
The reward for such loyalty will now be the promise of a comfortable retirement.
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