Queen’s personal adviser Angela Kelly reveals she became monarch’s hairdresser during lockdown

Angela Kelly helped cut the Queen’s hair during lockdown (Buckingham Palace/PA)
PA Media
Josh Salisbury11 April 2022

The Queen’s personal adviser has revealed how she became the monarch’s hairdresser during lockdown in a book.

Angela Kelly, the Queen’s senior dresser and personal adviser, was part of a team who isolated with the head of state during Covid.

The Queen spent most of the pandemic in Windsor Castle isolating with a reduced number of staff - reportedly called “HMS Bubble” by insiders.

In a new chapter in her book on serving the Queen, The Other Side Of The Coin: The Queen, The Dresser And The Wardrobe, Ms Kelly reveals how she set and cut the Queen’s hair among other details about royal life under lockdown.

The revised book, first published in 2019, also covers the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, the first public engagements post-lockdown and looks ahead to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

Katya Shipster, Harper Non-Fiction publishing director, said: “It tells the story of the royal bubble as well as the lengths Angela and the royal household went to, to ensure the safety of the monarch.”

Seventy photos for 70 years of the Queen’s record-breaking reign

Royal visit to Prince's Trust Centre
1/70

Ms Kelly has worked for almost 30 years with the monarch and the Queen is said to value her opinion greatly - even giving her somewhat free reign in preparing looks for an event.

This has included added embellishments to the Queen’s style, such as a  pair of 3D glasses worn by the monarch during a film demonstration in Canada in 2010 - which were emblazoned with Swarovski crystals forming the letter Q on their sides.

Ms Kelly rarely gives interviews but she once revealed of her relationship with the Queen: “We are two typical women. We discuss clothes, make-up, jewellery.”

Her book, published on May 12 by HarperCollins, also reveals some of the tricks-of-the-trade used for the Queen’s outfits.

Ms Kelly sews in extra layers of lining to cushion the impact of beading and crystals on the Queen’s back when events require glamorous gowns.

Tiny weights are also put into day-wear hemlines in case of windy weather, while fabrics that crumple or could potentially develop messy loose strands are avoided.

Ms Kelly, who has the same size feet as the Queen, also wears in the monarch’s handmade new shoes to ensure they are comfortable when first used.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in