One of Queen Elizabeth’s closest confidants, Angela Kelly, has detailed how she spent the last two years in COVID-19 lockdown with the British sovereign.
And it turns out she apparently can add a new job title to her résumé: hairstylist.
An updated version of Kelly’s 2019 memoir “The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe,” is set to be released next month and dives into the pair’s friendship during quarantine.
A press release from Kelly’s publishers Harper Collins explained that new chapters will discuss the “royal household’s isolation during lockdowns at Windsor Castle; Angela supporting the queen in new ways, such as cutting and setting her hair; the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral; the first public engagements post-lockdown; and a look ahead at the Jubilee celebrations in June.”
The 64-year-old adviser, who has been a part of the queen’s inner circle as her trusted aide since 2002, helps with the 95-year-old‘s dressings, oversees her expensive jewelry collection and acts as a personal assistant to the monarch.
The queen made the move from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle during the coronavirus pandemic alongside her late husband Prince Philip — who died in April 2021 at 99 — and a small group of close staff, including Kelly. This period was known as the “HMS Bubble.”
Angela Kelly (far right) has been a part of Queen Elizabeth’s inner circle since 2002. She is shown with (from left) British Fashion Council rep Caroline Rush, the queen and Anna Wintour at a London fashion week show in 2018. Getty ImagesA four-day bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom this summer to celebrate the queen’s historic 70 years on the throne.
Kelly was given permission by the British Crown to write and release a memoir about her life as part of the royal household. She is also the first member of the staff to be given such consent to pen a book and was even allowed to update her work with anecdotes of the tumultuous last two years.
“We wanted to commemorate the extraordinary occasion of the queen’s Platinum Jubilee with this beautiful new edition, as well as bring the content of the book right up to date following on from the unprecedented events of the past two years,” Katya Shipster, Harper’s publishing director, said in a statement.
“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 our monarch,” the book executive continued. “There is no better look at what goes on behind the pomp and circumstance than this wonderful book.”
The English ruler battled COVID-19 in February; she has since recovered. She spoke about her illness during a virtual visit earlier this month to the Royal London Hospital.
“It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn’t it? This horrible pandemic. It’s not a nice result,” the queen said at the time. “It obviously was a very frightening experience to have COVID very badly, wasn’t it?”
