Angela Kelly was Queen Elizabeth II's stylist, confidante, and best friend for years. Now, Carlos III has betrayed her mother and has expelled her from the palace.
Angela Kelly seemed to have retained the privilege of residing in one of the Windsor apartments at Queen Elizabeth's behest, while the rest of her team had to vacate her residences within a month. However, six months after the death of Elizabeth II, Kelly must also leave his residence by order of Carlos III, willing to save on everything necessary and not consent to more housing assignments, unless working for the crown.
Angela Kelly had been Elizabeth II's personal assistant, advisor-stylist, and head of jewelry, decorations, and wardrobe for 20 years. But, she had also become the queen's closest confidant and adviser, a kind of lady-in-waiting outside of the nobility, an indispensable right hand.
The relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Angela Kelly and the great betrayal of Carlos III
The relationship between the queen and her attendant was something out of the ordinary, for Buckingham. Kelly obtained, for example, the queen's permission to close a deal for three autobiographical books with a London publisher, of which she published two. In them, she recounted details of the monarch's day-to-day life, her dressing room, and her closest environment. Some "authorized" revelations cost others their jobs.
The third volume of Kelly's memoirs is on the way. You can't stop that publication, but she no longer has access to photographs, jewelry, clothing, and other items from the queen's dressing room. Her doors are now closed.
In addition to Kelly's highly trusted position, the personal relationship between the two women was very close. According to palace sources, it was common to find Kelly sitting next to the queen, chatting and laughing with her, especially in recent times when her mobility was reduced. They talked about her favorite series and her family.
Kelly was part of the so-called "queen's bubble" during the pandemic and was also there after the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. "I helped her take off her coat and hat and we didn't exchange a word," Kelly says in an excerpt from her new book, published by Hello! magazine. "Then the queen walked into her sitting room, closed the door, and was left alone with her thoughts."
Elizabeth II often visited Kelly's apartment to chat with her and have a cup of tea, when she was at Windsor. "I'm going for a walk," she'd say, and everyone already knew who she was going to see. And, as her health declined, Kelly was always by her side, even in the last months of her life.
Elizabeth II asked that Kelly be installed in rooms next to hers, an intimacy that already surprised King Charles at the time of her. But, the queen always made it clear that Kelly was a very close person and that she would take care of her future. Carlos III has decided not to keep his mother's promises. These are different times and Kelly no longer has a place in the palace. Camilla has her own styling kit for her.
How Queen Elizabeth II and Angela Kelly's friendship came to be
But how was this peculiar friendship forged between the daughter of a Liverpool docker, a Catholic, and the Queen of England, head of the Anglican Church? Mary Angela Bradley, her maiden name, is the middle of five children, and she entered the service of Elizabeth II in 1994, becoming her senior stylist in 2002.
Angela Kelly was married three times and divorced three times, and had three children. She was a single mother, aged 18, in 1971, to her son Frank, and she married Frank Wylie a month later. Then Paul and Michelle arrived. The marriage broke up in the 1980s and Kelly went to Germany and she left her children – very unusual at the time – in the care of her father.
She worked in catering for the British Army. She then married a German and divorced again, before remarrying in 1992 to Irish Sergeant Jim Kelly. They returned to England, but after three years another divorce came. By then I was already working on the queen's team and traveling with her, which kept her away from home for many weeks at a time.
Kelly was born in 1952, two months after Elizabeth II ascended the throne. Her family had a strong work ethic and discipline and she was very religious. Her father worked at the port, her mother was a nurse, and there was not enough money at home. Kelly dropped out of school before finishing her studies and never had any professional training. But her character was strong and resistant, with a great sense of loyalty and honesty. He learned to sew and make his own patterns with fabrics that he bought at the markets. He dressed impeccably with little money.
While she was working in Germany as the ambassador's housekeeper in March 1991, the Queen Mother paid a visit to the country and she took care of preparing all the details of her stay. She became close with the Queen Mother's stylist, Betty Leek. When she finished her visit she told Kelly: "You will always have a position in England." A few months later, in October 1992, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived for an official visit.
Thus she began her path at court, with an absolute devotion to her work. What she lacked in training she made up for with ambition, discretion, loyalty, and a natural intelligence to analyze situations. It seems that she had always wanted to work for the queen and she sacrificed what it took to get it. Until she reached the top. She designed and made some of the queen's dresses. "I come from a humble family and I hope to remain so, I would like the queen and I to grow old together," she said in an interview in 2007.
It seems that Kelly also weighed in on the wardrobe issues of other members of the royal family. For example, Prince George wore a Christian gown made by her, a replica of the satin and lace gown made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter in 1841, and which was worn by almost all the newborns of the royal family. Kelly also advised the then-Duchess of Cambridge to use weights on her hem to prevent the wind from blowing up her skirt, as the queen did.
