Angela Kelly’s next chapter could put the Queen’s private world on screen

Angela Kelly spent almost three decades at the heart of Queen Elizabeth II’s household, becoming far more than the monarch’s dresser. She was a trusted confidante, personal assistant, adviser and, in her final years, one of the people closest to the Queen.

Now, at 68, Kelly is reportedly preparing to tell her story for a global audience.

The Mail on Sunday understands that Kelly has agreed to cooperate with a film about her extraordinary life and her time inside the Royal Household. The project is expected to take the form of a scripted documentary, bringing together interviews, archive material and potentially dramatic reconstructions.

Producers are said to be working with Bafta-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock MBE, whose credits include Mrs Brown, the film about Queen Victoria starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.

For the Royal Family and senior courtiers, the prospect is likely to be uncomfortable.

“The royals will be worried, and they are right to be worried,” an insider said.

The woman who knew the Queen behind closed doors

Kelly occupied a uniquely intimate position within the late Queen’s circle.

Known as Elizabeth II’s “gatekeeper”, she was trusted with aspects of the monarch’s private life that few other members of staff would have experienced. Kelly helped the Queen into new shoes to soften them before they were worn, arranged her hair and even massaged her feet.

The relationship was unusually close for a royal employer and member of staff. The Queen reportedly once said the pair could have been “sisters”.

Kelly was also among the small group of people at Balmoral when Elizabeth II died four years ago.

That access means there is considerable interest in what she might say about the late monarch’s private opinions, including her views on Brexit, King Charles and members of the wider Royal Family.

Of particular interest will be anything Kelly chooses to say about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

“She knows everything you ever wanted to know, including the Queen’s real views on Meghan,” one royal observer said.

The same observer argued that Kelly could have a strong case for telling her story, pointing to the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan have themselves revealed previously private details about royal life.

“If Harry and Meghan can break all the rules, why can’t she?” the observer said.

A complicated relationship with the Palace

Kelly has signed a confidentiality agreement that has limited her ability to profit commercially from her years inside the Royal Household.

The agreement is even said to contain restrictions on using the words “King” and “Palace” for commercial purposes.

There may, however, be an important exception.

Kelly is understood to have received written permission from one of the Queen’s private secretaries to publish three books about her experiences. Two have already appeared: Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe, published in 2012, and The Other Side of The Coin – The Queen, The Dresser and The Wardrobe, published in 2019.

Those books offered glimpses into Kelly’s unusual working relationship with Elizabeth II, although they remained relatively restrained.

One anecdote described the Queen and Kelly going star-gazing together. Another book included a photograph of Elizabeth relaxing without her shoes, with her feet resting on a divan. The image was reportedly a source of dismay for King Charles.

Kelly’s previous books therefore provide some indication of what she knows, but a film could take that access considerably further.

A project with an American audience in mind

The new production is understood to be controlled by 53 Degrees Global, a major London production company, in collaboration with Walt Disney.

The company describes itself as “trusted by royalty” and produces documentaries through the True Royalty Originals brand. It is closely associated with True Royalty TV, a streaming service aimed at royal enthusiasts.

Kelly has also acquired an agent, and there is speculation that her story could make her a sought-after guest on American television.

She has spoken in the past about wanting to spend time in the United States, and one source suggested that being there could give her greater freedom to discuss her experiences.

A source at Disney said the project would have strong appeal in America.

“The market is flooded with royal stories but this one is unique,” the source said. “This is a person with access to the Queen, a woman who never voiced her opinions publicly.”

Kelly was not universally popular inside the Palace

Her closeness to the Queen did not make Kelly universally admired among royal staff.

She was known for having a forceful personality and a temper that could make her a formidable presence around the Palace. Some members of staff reportedly nicknamed her “AK47”, a reference to her initials and the Soviet-era assault rifle.

Kelly is also understood to have been hurt by how quickly she was required to leave the Royal Household after the Queen’s death and vacate her cottage on the Windsor estate.

Friends, however, have insisted that she does not blame the senior members of the Royal Family.

The transition after Elizabeth’s death was swift. Within days, the locks to the Queen’s private apartments at Windsor were changed, while Kelly’s Palace-issued mobile phone was disconnected.

Kelly subsequently appeared to address the issue on Instagram, writing that she was too old to worry about who liked or disliked her.

Her outspoken nature has inevitably raised concerns that the documentary could become an opportunity to settle old scores.

She is known to have had disagreements with Camilla, when Camilla was Duchess of Cornwall, and she famously clashed with Prince Harry.

The Harry and Meghan dispute

Harry discussed Kelly in his memoir Spare, accusing the royal dresser of preventing Meghan from practising with her wedding tiara alongside a hairdresser ahead of their 2018 wedding.

That dispute is one of several episodes from Kelly’s royal career that could attract renewed attention if the documentary goes ahead.

But her relationship with the Queen was clearly more complicated and personal than the occasional clashes might suggest.

The Queen gave Kelly unprecedented permission and blessing to write about her work while she was still a member of the Royal Household. The resulting books contained numerous personal details, yet stopped short of revealing everything that Kelly potentially knew.

From lorry driver to one of the Queen’s closest aides

Kelly’s path to the Royal Household was far removed from the traditional world of palace staff.

The daughter of a dockyard crane operator, she worked as a lorry driver for the Women’s Royal Army Corps before becoming a housekeeper to Sir Christopher Mallaby, who served as British ambassador to Germany.

Her connection to the Royal Family began during an official visit to Berlin in 1992.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip stayed at the ambassador’s residence and met Kelly during the visit. Not long afterwards, she was offered a position as a dresser at the Palace.

Her responsibilities expanded dramatically over the years.

Eventually, Kelly became the Queen’s personal assistant, adviser and curator, overseeing elements of her wardrobe, jewellery and insignia. Her influence could also be seen in the monarch’s public appearance and clothing.

Her role in the Queen’s wardrobe became particularly visible in 2018, when Elizabeth made her surprise appearance at London Fashion Week.

Sitting alongside Anna Wintour at the Richard Quinn show, the Queen presented the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Kelly had helped design the award itself, and the Queen wore an outfit associated with her longtime dresser.

A relationship built on extraordinary trust

Kelly’s influence extended well beyond choosing clothes.

Her 2012 book, Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe, offered an insight into the detailed planning behind Elizabeth’s public wardrobe. Her later book, The Other Side of The Coin, went deeper into the relationship between the monarch and her dresser.

The books also illustrated how much personal access Kelly enjoyed.

By the final months of Elizabeth’s life, that closeness had become even more pronounced. Kelly moved into a room on the same floor as the Queen’s private apartments at Windsor Castle.

She later told friends that she had effectively become the Queen’s carer.

At Balmoral, she was among only a handful of people in an adjoining chamber to the bedroom where the monarch died.

In 2023, Kelly was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, adding a formal honour to a career that had taken her from the dockyards of Liverpool to the innermost circle of the British monarchy.

What might Kelly reveal?

That question now hangs over the proposed documentary.

Kelly has already demonstrated that she can tell stories about the Queen while remaining discreet. Her earlier books included affectionate and sometimes revealing glimpses of Elizabeth, but they avoided the kind of disclosures that might have caused a major rupture with the Palace.

A television project could be different.

Kelly spent decades watching the Queen away from the public gaze. She knew her routines, her preferences, her moods and the people who came in and out of her private world.

She was also close enough to witness disagreements within the Royal Household.

That combination of access and experience makes her account potentially valuable to filmmakers and royal watchers alike.

There will inevitably be concern within royal circles about whether the project could expose private conversations or opinions that have never previously been made public.

For now, much remains uncertain about what the film will contain and how much Kelly herself will say.

Buckingham Palace, Angela Kelly and 53 Degrees Global were approached for comment.

If the project proceeds as expected, however, the woman who once stood beside Queen Elizabeth II as her dresser and trusted confidante could soon be telling her version of the royal story to an audience far beyond the Palace gates.