Angela Kelly, who was Queen Elizabeth’s dresser and confidante for almost 30 years, has given a rare interview, revealing how the pair would dance in her bedroom to the ABBA hit Dancing Queen
The late Queen’s right-hand woman has given a rare interview – revealing how she and the monarch would dance around her bedroom each morning.
Angela Kelly, was the former monarch’s personal dresser and designed many of her most memorable and colourful outfits – and was one of her most trusted aides. The pair were said to chat about “anything and everything”, as they drank tea and swapped jokes and anecdotes about their grandchildren.
Ms Kelly, who says the Queen was her best friend, released two books with her former boss’s blessing about her life curating her wardrobe, designing her vibrant looks and looking after her jewellery.
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After the late Queen’s death, she lost her grace-and-favour home on the Windsor estate and told her followers on Instagram : “Getting ready to say goodbye. I am moving at last to my new home which I will be able to call My Home at last.” Replying to a friend, she said her work phone had been disconnected and added she’d be moving to the Peak District, close to Sheffield, in a house provided by the King.
Later this week, six of Ms Kelly’s outfits that she created for her former boss will go on show in an exhibition at Buckingham Palace called Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, although she has had little contact with the Palace since her departure.
And as the 100th anniversary of the late Queen’s birth approaches the 68-year-old told Vanity Fair, how she remembers dancing and singing along to ABBA’s Dancing Queen in her bedroom.
She explained: “Every morning the queen would listen to the Terry Wogan show on Radio 2. When the song Dancing Queen came on she loved it, and both of us would dance. The Queen would move from side to side and sing.
“Her Majesty loved singing and had a good voice. I didn’t. I’d get carried away and be dancing all round her like I was at a disco, and the queen would tell me to ‘move over’ because I can’t sing and we laughed. They were moments to cherish, to see the queen so relaxed.”
She also reminisced about spending the Easter holidays with the late Queen at Windsor adding: “The family would visit and she loved being granny. Her Majesty took her great-grandchildren out riding or walking. She did barbecues and fun things and she always washed the dishes, even when she was entertaining the prime minister.
“It was just a normal loving family, to be quite honest. If the duke, or whoever was cooking, burnt the burgers she’d just laugh. As long as they had extra to put back on, and as long as all the family were fed and watered, that was all right. The Queen was just full of energy and a really cool granny, to be honest.”
Angela, a dock worker’s daughter from Liverpool, was working as a housekeeper for the British Ambassador to Germany when she had her first chance meeting with the late Queen in Berlin in 1992.
The former monarch visited the ambassador’s home while on a visit to Germany and just a year later, on returning to the UK, Angela was offered a position as the Queen’s dresser. She released two books Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe and The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, where she revealed her close relationship with the monarch and told how she would wear in her shoes so she didn’t get blisters.
However, it was later reported that the King had concerns over the number of books Angela, who says she still misses her former boss, has published – with the Queen’s blessing – which were mainly based on the monarch’s wardrobe but also included behind-the-scenes pictures. A third book was said to be planned but it has so far not materialised.
Angela’s close relationship with the late Queen also reportedly caused jealousy among other members of staff, with Ms Kelly, once dubbed ‘AK47’ once joking: “I don’t have any more room for knives in my back.”
Prince Harry criticised her in his memoir, Spare, claiming he had a clash with her after he and Meghan Markle found it difficult to contact her to arrange a time to use a tiara during a hair trial in their lead up to their wedding. He also described her as a “troublemaker”.
Angela added: “We both knew we had trust, loyalty, and understanding. The Queen was my best friend and I miss her every day.”
