An impressive memorial to the Queen Mother was unveiled by the Queen today on The Mall, directly before and below the statue of her husband, King George VI.

The Queen was accompanied by her children and grandchildren, the Prince of Wales with the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne, Princes William and Harry, and the Duke of York with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Prince Charles gave a dignified personal tribute to his grandmother, to whom he was particularly close.

“At long last my grandparents are reunited in this joint symbol which, in particular, reminds us of all they stood for, and meant to so many, during the darkest hours this country has ever faced.

“All of us gathered here today will, I know, miss my darling grandmother’s vitality, her interest in the lives of others, her unbounded courage and determination that allowed her — incredibly — to continue her official life to the age of nearly 102; her perceptive wisdom, her calm in the face of all adversities, her steadfast belief in the British people and, above all, her irresistible, irrepressible sense of mischievous humour. How blessed we were to have known her and her generosity of spirit.”

It was the kind of occasion that put last night’s Channel 4 documentary, The Problem Princes in perspective.

Yesterday, the Queen was presented with an unusual gift — a pair of ripe bananas.

Betty Taylor explained that back in 1943, when bananas were unknown in Britain due to wartime restrictions, the Queen Mother arrived at the hospital where Betty was recovering from shrapnel wounds and gave her a brace of bananas.

The four-year-old was delighted with the unusual present and, yesterday, 65 years on, repaid the kindness by returning the favour to her daughter.

The Queen received them with her customary gracious manner, but was said to be a little dubious about the bananas’ state of advanced ripeness.

No doubt the corgies had a treat with their evening meal.

Royal Anecdotes moving
Royal Anecdotes will be moving home and office next weekend. There will be an inevitable hiatus in posting from Friday (Feb 1) through Monday, depending on how quickly we can get the communication lines up and running. The comments section will, of course, be open as usual.

We are moving to the beautiful Quay district of Exeter, with a much larger office and extended space all round.

The Quay district at Exeter’s Watergate

Business as usual until Friday.

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.

It’s Prince William’s 25th birthday today, Midsummer day. A quarter of a century has passed since he came into the world. What a lot has happened in that time. I’m guessing it feels like an aeon to him. As he said last week, time has passed very slowly in the last 10 years.

Today, William gains access to part of the inheritance left to him by his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales. Her £21m ($42m) estate has been split equally between William and Prince Harry, which, after deducting £8m ($16m) inheritance tax, leaves them around £6.5m ($13m) each.

Diana’s estate was largely made up of stocks and shares, jewellery, a reported £18m ($36m) divorce settlement, dresses and personal items from Kensington Palace.

Some changes have been made to Diana’s will, however. William may now access the income generated by the investment of his cut, believed to be around £250K to £300K ($600K) a year.

Added to the £22K ($44K) he currently earns as a Cornet in the Blues and Royals, it represents quite a few nights out at Boujis and Mahiki, However, sources have said he will not touch the capital of his inheritance yet, since his accommodation, staff and polo playing are paid for by the Duchy Of Cornwall. He also has access to funds left in trust for him by his great grandmother the Queen Mother.

William is said to be spending his birthday training as usual with the Army at Lulworth in Dorset — but don’t rule out a drink in the mess later.

Royal Anecdotes wishes Prince William a very happy birthday and many more to come.