Angela Kelly’s extraordinary relationship with the late Queen
Elizabeth II is set to be brought to the screen in a new film which
could offer a revealing look at one of the most unusual friendships
inside the royal household.
The project, titled
Trouble, will reportedly tell the story of Kelly’s
decades-long relationship with the late monarch and is being
written by Bafta-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock.
Unlike an earlier report suggesting that Kelly would take part
in a documentary about her life, the project is now understood to
be a drama for Fox Searchlight, giving its creators greater freedom
to portray events surrounding the former royal dresser and the
Queen.
Brock’s agent has confirmed that he has been commissioned to
write an original screenplay entitled Trouble, describing
it as a film about the friendship between Elizabeth II and Angela
Kelly.
The screenwriter previously worked on A Very Royal
Scandal, the 2024 drama about Prince Andrew’s infamous BBC
interview with Emily Maitlis.
Kelly, now 68, began working for the Royal Family in the 1990s
and went on to become one of the most trusted members of the
Queen’s household.
She was initially employed as a senior dresser but eventually
took on responsibilities as the monarch’s personal adviser, curator
and in-house designer.
Her relationship with Elizabeth became unusually close.
The Queen once described Kelly and herself as being like
“sisters”, while Kelly was entrusted with highly personal aspects
of the monarch’s daily life, including breaking in new shoes,
arranging her hair and even massaging her feet.
Kelly was also among the small group of people present at
Balmoral when Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022.
Her extraordinary access to the late Queen has previously raised
questions about what she could reveal about her time at the
Palace.
Royal staff are normally required to sign confidentiality
agreements preventing them from discussing their work and the
private affairs of members of the Royal Family.
However, Kelly was given unusual permission during Elizabeth’s
reign to publish books about her work with the monarch.
Her 2019 memoir, The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the
Dresser and the Wardrobe, was published with the late Queen’s
blessing.
She had also previously published Dressing the Queen: The
Jubilee Wardrobe, which examined the monarch’s clothing during
her Diamond Jubilee year.
That history means the prospect of a dramatic portrayal of
Kelly’s relationship with Elizabeth is likely to attract
considerable interest.
Kelly was known for having a strong personality and was not
universally popular among her fellow courtiers. Her willingness to
speak her mind earned her the nickname “AK-47”, a reference to her
initials and the Soviet-designed assault rifle.
Yet Kelly herself has repeatedly portrayed her relationship with
Elizabeth as one based on mutual respect.
In a 2007 interview, she said the Queen treated her staff with
respect and described their conversations as being between “two
typical women”, discussing subjects including clothes, make-up and
jewellery.
“I don’t know why the Queen seems fond of me – because I don’t
give her an easy time!” Kelly said at the time.
The new film therefore has the potential to explore both sides
of Kelly’s extraordinary position within the royal household: her
remarkable closeness to the late Queen and the tensions that
accompanied her influential role.
