Angela Kelly - The Other Side of the Coin

I vividly remember one fitting where The Queen was draped in a very large piece of bold, jacquard material in a large print. Even a six-foot-tall model would have struggled to pull off something like that, and it absolutely drowned Her Majesty. Once again, I could not hide my disapproval when Her Majesty asked my thoughts. Without hesitation, I said, ‘No way! It doesn’t suit you at all and it is totally the wrong pattern.’ An awkward silence and an icy atmosphere descended on the room. Everyone in sequence turned their heads towards me with what felt like daggers in their eyes, except for The Queen who stared straight ahead and goodness knows what she was thinking. The atmosphere was ice cold. Just at that moment, The Duke of Edinburgh happened to walk past and Her Majesty asked what he thought of the material, knowing that, like mine, his feedback is always honest. ‘Is that the new material for the sofa?’ he joked, before continuing on his way. I excused myself, left the room, and privately punched the air with delight. I composed myself, then walked back into the dressing room where I noticed the material was being folded and put away unused. The Queen was thanking the designers and the milliner for their time and they left the room.

Shortly after that fitting, and experiencing my honesty, Her Majesty asked me to draw some of my own designs for what I thought she should wear. I told her I couldn’t – it had been a long time since I had sketched any outfits. ‘If I wanted an artist, I would hire one,’ The Queen said jokingly. And with that, I began rummaging through the parcels of gift materials, taking samples to show Her Majesty the wealth of beautiful silks and glorious patterns that she already had in her stockroom. Then I showed her some quickly drawn sketches of more fitted, stylish pieces. Thanks to my mum, I’d already had extensive training on the necessary skills but I was a little out of practice. I needed to refresh my memory quickly, considering that it was Her Majesty’s outfits I would be working on. Each was inspired by my own love of fashion and my mother’s elegant wardrobe – her perfectly tailored skirts and jackets. Sometimes I channelled the sensibility of my aunt Edwina – a designer, tailor, and dressmaker, who liked to dress more daringly. She was the first woman I saw in a transparent black chiffon blouse. The Queen saw my drawings of the designs, along with samples of the beautiful materials already being stored upstairs, and accepted them. The Queen liked the designs and suggested that we employ a machinist to help me. Before long, Her Majesty’s wardrobe was being revitalised as, piece by piece, vibrant colours and stylish cuts made their way onto the rails. More to the point, The Queen was happy. It is an honour to be the first ever in-house Designer to Her Majesty The Queen.

Her Majesty wore this for her 90th birthday in Windsor in 2016.

The symbolic 'Girls of Great Britian and Ireland' Tiara is one of my favourite pieces.

THE QUEEN’S

JEWELLERY

Before long, my role as Senior Dresser and Designer for Her Majesty evolved. Owing to the strength of my relationship with The Queen and the mutual respect we shared, in 1998 I was given the additional titles of Personal Advisor and Curator to Her Majesty The Queen. I still continued to design outfits for Her Majesty, and did this mainly in the evenings and at weekends. As Personal Advisor, I am in the privileged position of not only advising The Queen on her outfits and hats, but also looking after Her Majesty’s health and well-being, and communicating with her team of expert professors and doctors.

As Curator, I would be responsible for The Queen’s personal jewellery and certain pieces from the Crown Jewels, as well as The Queen’s Insignia. It is a great honour and privilege to be entrusted with the care of The Queen’s private jewellery and to help select items that are worn on a daily basis.

One of the first things I wanted to do in this new role as Curator was to find a jeweller with whom I could build a relationship, as the previous Crown Jeweller was due to retire. They would oversee one of the rarest collections of gems and historical pieces, some of which have never been seen, and would need to be extremely knowledgeable about the repair and restoration of antique jewellery. And, as is the case with all staff members in the Royal Household, they would need to be very discreet.

Having discussed this idea with Her Majesty, who agreed, I knew exactly where to begin my search; the Royal Palace itself, which often proved to be a fountain of knowledge. Not wanting to rouse anyone’s suspicions, I mentioned to several people that I was looking to commission a jeweller to design something for myself, and time and time again the same name was suggested: Mr Harry Collins from G. Collins & Sons, who was based in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Her Majesty often chooses smaller, family-run businesses to work with and was not in the slightest bit bothered by the fact that Mr Collins was based outside of London, so a date was soon set for him to come to Buckingham Palace and bring a selection of his work.

A week later, a very anxious Mr Collins arrived for his appointment, unaware that I had arranged for Her Majesty to join us. Shortly before The Queen’s arrival, I asked him to display his silverware on the table and wait outside the room. Understandably, Harry seemed a little unnerved as he left. Her Majesty joined me to review his work and she was keen to purchase a few salvers and trinkets, so I proceeded to go and bring Mr Collins back into the room. I had to put him under pressure to see how he would cope, especially if I gave him a particular piece of jewellery from The Queen’s collection. I needed to be sure that he would be able to work under stress if necessary.

I always find it fascinating to see how differently people respond on first meeting The Queen. Unsurprisingly, Mr Collins was rather taken aback, and after the formal introductions, he began to discuss his work with Her Majesty, going into detail about his style and techniques. The Queen kept glancing in my direction and I knew from the look on her face that she was happy – this was her seal of approval and a signal to present Mr Collins with a beautiful leather fitted case which contained the Vladimir Tiara.

The Vladimir Tiara is made up of fifteen intertwined diamond-set ovals from which hang pendant pearls. The pearls can be interchanged with emeralds.

I brought the case in and placed it on the table. Then I opened the box and took out the tiara, handing it to Mr Collins and explaining what was needed. Mr Collins delicately took the tiara from me and held it as gently as one would hold a baby. Carefully turning the headpiece to examine its diamonds and pear-shaped, cabochon-cut emeralds, he was clearly transfixed and I noticed that he kept staring at the tiara and Her Majesty in turn. It struck me that he was frozen to the spot – still smiling, but saying no words: it was as though he had stage fright. Luckily, The Queen is very adept in these situations and simply flashed Mr Collins a huge smile which helped snap him out of his trance.