There’s an interesting article in the Telegraph by Hannah Betts suggesting that the Queen is using Camilla as a fashion role model.

Although slightly tongue-in-cheek the piece points out the similarity of their attire at last week’s Windsor wedding.

There’s also another dig at Princess Beatrice who is described as living on her own fashion planet.

As I know nothing about fashion, you should read it yourself.

Read the complete article.

Angela Kelly, 55, Roman Catholic and a divorcee with two grown-up sons, has a very impressive job title at Buckingham Palace : Personal Assistant, Adviser and Curator to Her Majesty the Queen (Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe). Palace insiders see her as the Queen’s “gatekeeper” and even as her close confidante.

A picture emerges of a very posh lady, with a cut-glass accent and a noble aristocratic lineage.

It couldn’t be further from the truth. Angela Kelly comes from a terraced council house (social housing) in Liverpool. She has a pronounced Scouse accent — think Beatles — and started out at the Palace as the humblest of maids. Eliza Doolittle most definitely springs to mind.

Angela Kelly dressing the Queen

Now, for the first time, and with Her Majesty’s permission, Miss Kelly has given a public interview to Andrew Alderson.

“Years ago, the Queen kindly invited me to listen to her conversations with her designers, Sir Hardy Amies and others, and give my opinion,” she explains. “Well, asking a Scouser to give an opinion is dangerous, so I told her straight. The Queen loves clothes and is a real expert on fabrics. It has not been a question of me teaching the Queen — it has been the other way around.”

Now, in the privacy of the Queen’s castles and Palaces, they discuss “anything and everything”. Their conversations are said to range from their beloved grandchildren to “flowing ballgowns, and from designer jewellery to new ranges of make-up”.

The Queen recently told her, “You and I do work well together. I think we are a good team.” Staff report that they often hear the sound of their joint laughter echoing down the corridors.

“I love the Queen and everything about her,” she says. “I adore her, but then, so does everyone else. She is not ‘my’ Queen, she is everyone’s and so I have to share her. Once she has chosen something to wear, I just want her to look good in it. I love seeing the faces of the public when they meet the Queen, and when she gives them that special smile. It makes me feel so proud of her.

“I do worry about her and care about her. But we also have a lot of fun together. The Queen has a wicked sense of humour and is a great mimic. She can do all accents — including mine.”

Nowadays Angela Kelly is much more than just a dresser. She advises the Queen on all aspects of her wardrobe and is even developing her own clothing line with a top designer.

“I just want everything to be right for the Queen — to make life easier for her because she is so busy. My job is to ensure that when the Queen meets people she looks right.

“I would never overstep the mark and I remain in awe of the Queen. But she has allowed me to become closer to her over the years. We [the dressers] are not treated like flunkies. It’s not like that. The Queen treats us with real respect.

“I don’t know why the Queen seems fond of me — because I don’t give her an easy time! I do think she values my opinion, but she is the one who is in control. She always makes the final decision.

“We are two typical women. We discuss clothes, make-up, jewellery. We say, ‘Would this piece of jewellery look nice with that outfit?’, and things like that.”

The friendship with the Queen became closer in 2002 when the Monarch lost both her mother and sister during her Golden Jubilee. Angela Kelly doesn’t believe there is a connection, “I am not there to replace her mother and her sister. If she wants to talk about matters of the heart, she speaks to her family. It’s just a working relationship — but a close one.”

For a precedent we could perhaps go back to “Crawfie”, the Queen’s Scottish governess when a child. Crawfie blotted her copybook by spilling secrets of Royal life to a women’s magazine. She was ostracized by the Queen Mother.

Somehow, I can’t see that happening with Angela Kelly.