Queen Elizabeth.Photo: Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images
One of the monarch’s most trusted aides, her personal stylist and dressmaker Angela Kelly, has updated her bestselling bookThe Other Side of the Coin, The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobeto include reflections on the Queen’s life amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the book, Kelly shares behind-the-scenes details of a somber day in the monarch’s life: the funeral of her husband of 73 years,Prince Philip.
Kelly waited for the Queen, who is turning 96 this week, in the dressing room following the service on April 17, 2021, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The book jacket for the updated edition.Courtesy of HarperCollins
Kelly recalls that staff “stood to attention” as they watchedPrince Philip’s coffin be placed in the specially-designed Land Rover that the Duke of Edinburgh had a hand in creating.
“You could see the expression of sadness on everyone’s faces to see such a great and well-respected man making his last journey,” she says. “Their thoughts, I’m sure, were for The Queen, knowing she had lost a husband and a best friend. The nation shared the grief and their hearts went out to Her Majesty.”
Many ofPrince Philip’s pages and valets walked behind his coffin.
The funeral of Prince Philip.Adrian Dennis/WPA Pool/Getty Images
According to publishers HarperCollins, the new chapter will capture the Royal Household’s isolation during the pandemic-enforced lockdowns at Windsor Castle (including how Kelly cut and set the Queen’s hair) and what went on behind the scenes of the monarch’s first public engagements as the lockdowns lifted.
HarperNonFiction editorial director Katya Shipster said in a statement, “There is no better look at what goes on behind the pomp and circumstance than this wonderful book.”
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Kelly began her career at Buckingham Palace 28 years ago as the Queen’s Senior Dresser and rose to become Her Majesty’s personal stylist, curator, wardrobe and in-house designer — and one of her closest confidantes.
The first edition of the book caused a sensation among royal fans as Kelly gave a behind-the-scenes look at the Queen’s style, including how Kelly cleans the Queen’s priceless jewels using gin and water. Kelly also revealed how one of the only times the Queen doesn’t do her own makeup is when she records her televised Christmas address. Since she wears the same shoe size as Her Majesty, Kellyalso breaks in the Queen’s shoes.
The book is unprecedented as Kelly is the first of the Queen’s personal staff to be given permission to write books about her royal role. Her first,Dressing the Queen,was published in 2012 ahead ofQueen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Queen’s then-assistant private secretary Samantha Cohen wrote in the foreword, “Nobody is better placed to tell this hitherto unknown story than Angela Kelly. [She] has undertaken the exceptional responsibility of managing all aspects of The Queen’s wardrobe with unstinting pride in her work, attention to detail.”
source: people.com
