Queen Elizabeth II watches as pallbearers carry the coffin of Prince Philip. Photo / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II watches as pallbearers carry the coffin of Prince Philip. Photo / Getty Images
The Queen returned to Windsor Castle and shut herself alone in her sitting room after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral, it has emerged.
She was forced to sit apart from other members of the royal family during the service at St George's Chapel last April because of lockdown restrictions.
Angela Kelly, the Queen's dressmaker and close confidante, recalled in an updated version of her memoir how the monarch opted to remain alone in the immediate aftermath of her husband's funeral.
"I helped her off with her coat and hat and no words were spoken," she said.
"The Queen then walked to her sitting room, closed the door behind her, and she was alone with her own thoughts."
The moment is recalled in Kelly's book, The Other Side of the Coin, The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, first published in October 2019, which has been updated to mark the Platinum Jubilee.
Angela Kelly, personal assistant and dress maker to Queen Elizabeth II. Photo / Getty Images
A new chapter includes details about how the royal household coped throughout lockdown and Prince Philip's death.
Kelly was a member of "HMS Bubble", the small coterie of staff who isolated alongside the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to protect them from Covid.
She moved into Windsor Castle and stayed by the Queen's side for two years.
Queen Elizabeth II arrives for the funeral of Prince Philip. Photo / Getty Images
She said that from March 2020 onwards she washed, set and styled the Queen's hair every week, trimming it when needed, in what her team named "Kelly's Salon".
She wrote: "The Queen knew I was nervous, and during the first two weeks I was shaking. I had only done her hair once or twice before while onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. The Queen was so kind as she advised me on the very specific way to put the rollers in."
Queen Elizabeth II watches as pallbearers carry the coffin of Prince Philip. Photo / Getty Images
But she added: "As I grew in confidence I'm sure the Queen thought I was a professional and started shouting at me, 'Don't do that, do it this way. That's right, you've got it, don't change it'. I was thinking, goodness me, I need a gin and tonic.
"So while the Queen was under the dryer I said to her, 'I'm off for a stiff drink because this is so stressful, getting it just right for you'."
She said that "after a much-needed rest" she returned to the dressing room to comb out the Queen's hair ready to style. "I must have used a whole can of hairspray to make sure it lasted the week," she added.
The routine would continue, with one of Kelly's team preparing her the G&T every time she returned upstairs from the dressing room.
Queen Elizabeth II attends a military parade. Photo / Getty Images
Book extracts published in Hello! magazine also reveal how the monarch surprised staff by turning up at a "Bubble Olympics" organised on the golf course at Home Park, Windsor, to hand out prizes to staff.
Staff organised the event to lift spirits at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 and included games such as relay and rounders.
Kelly said the Queen watched from behind the bushes before stepping out to hand out the awards, much to their delight.
She described how the Queen's puppies, Sandy and Muick, had proved a "godsend" during lockdown and had given Her Majesty "constant joy", even taking their first royal flight to Balmoral last summer.
The Queen with Anna Wintour, the fashion journalist and editor, and Ms Kelly during London Fashion Week in 2018. Photo / Getty Images
Kelly, a Liverpudlian docker's daughter, met the Queen in 1992, when she was working as a housekeeper at the British Ambassador's residence in Berlin. Weeks later, she received a call asking if she would like to join the royal household as a dressmaker.
She has since developed a warm friendship with the Queen and has become her closest confidante, illustrated by the fact that the monarch gave her book, which offers an unrivalled insight into life behind palace walls, her personal blessing.
