Author Phil Dampier gives his view on new book by Queen’s dresser and Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir

Disgraced Royal Prince Andrew may release a memoir, it was claimed today.

The Duke of York may decide to write an autobiography to earn funds after a settling his expensive court case with Virginia Guiffre.

It comes as a much anticipated update to a book penned by the Queen’s stylist is due – as Prince Harry prepares his ‘tell-all’ memoirs, according to a renowned royal author.  

Royal dresser Angela Kelly, who has been with Queen for 28 years, is set to release an update to The Other Side of The Coin, it was revealed last night.

The latest chapter of the book, which provides a glimpse into the life and wardrobes of the royals, will address the death of Prince Philip and the Queen’s Covid protocol – HMS Bubble.

According to reports, the Queen has given her blessing for the book to be published, by US firm HarperCollins, next month.

The timing of its release, ahead of the publication of Prince Harry’s tell-all autobiography, will mean the two books are likely to battle it out in the royal section of bookshops later this year.

However royal author Phil Dampier, who penned a book about Harry and Meghan’s romance in 2018, believes they are unlikely to be competing in terms of sales.

Mr Dampier also suggested Prince Andrew could be the next royal to release a memoir – but only if ‘he’s backed into a corner and needs money’.

Speaking about the two upcoming books, the author told MailOnline: ‘I don’t think the book is designed to counter Harry’s book. 

‘I think Harry’s will be a best-seller, while Angela’s is suited to a more niche market.  

Mr Dampier also suggested Prince Andrew (pictured) could be the next royal to release a memoir after the Duke of Sussex – but only if ‘he’s backed into a corner and needs money’

‘Angela will focus very much on the Queen and how she and her staff coped, while Harry will be talking about his whole life.

‘We don’t know what will be in Harry’s book but he is being paid a lot of money – even if some is going to charity – and so the publishers will want something sensational.

‘He is bound to revisit Megxit and justify the reasons he and his wife left the royal family. And he clearly has issues about his mother which have festered for 25 years.’

Mr Dampier also said the Queen giving Ms Kelly her blessing to publish the book showed how much ‘trust’ she had in the stylist, who is regarded as a long-term confidant of Her Majesty.

Mr Dampier (pictured) meanwhile said the Queen giving Ms Kelly her blessing to publish the book showed how much ‘trust’ she had in the stylist, who is regarded as a long-term confidant of Her Majesty

‘The fact that the Queen is allowing Angela Kelly to update her book with intimate details of life inside Windsor Castle during the pandemic shows how close they are and how powerful Angela is,’ he said. 

‘No other member of staff would be allowed to do so and it shows how much she relies on her and trusts her.’

Mr Dampier, a royal reporter who has penned books about Princess Diana and Prince Philip, also discussed the possibility that Prince Andrew could one day write a book.  

The Duke of York has been largely outcast from royal life since facing a US sex assault lawsuit by Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts, which resulted in him being stripped of his military titles and patronages in January.

In March, the 62-year-old settled with Ms Roberts, who now goes by her married name of Guiffree, in a deal reported to be as much as £12million.

But he made a surprise return to the royal centre stage earlier this month, when he accompanied the Queen during Prince Philip’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey.

Mr Dampier said: ‘If he is backed into a corner and needs money who knows?’ 

‘After all, Prince Charles co-operated with the Jonathan Dimbleby biography of him to get his message across, Diana was behind Andrew Morton’s book and Fergie of course has written several books.

Last night it was revealed that royal dresser Angela Kelly (pictured), who has been with Queen for 28 years, is set to release an update to her book The Other Side of the Coin

‘Andrew might feel he could explain some of his actions which might pave the way for a return to public life in a couple of years.

‘I doubt it will work, but I know he wants to make a comeback, and after all, what is he supposed to do with the rest of his life?’  

Ms Kelly has spent almost 30 years as the Queen’s stylist and trusted advisor and was among the inner circle who spent much of lockdown with Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle, in what became known as HMS Bubble.

The right-hand woman of the Queen is set to reveal details of how the royal household helped support Her Majesty safe during lockdown in a revised edition of her book.

In a new edition of The Other Side Of The Coin: The Queen, The Dresser And The Wardrobe, which has been approved by Her Majesty, Kelly will offer her personal account of how the Queen weathered the troubles of the pandemic and coped with the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.

In one of the light-hearted anecdotes, she reveals she was called upon to cut the Queen’s hair when usual protocol could not be followed.

‘It tells the story of the royal bubble as well as the lengths Angela and the royal household went to, to ensure the safety of the monarch,’ explained Katya Shipster, publishing director of Harper Non-Fiction.

The Queen and three-times-divorced Miss Kelly – a Roman Catholic crane driver’s daughter from Liverpool – have spent the past 20 years forging an intriguingly close relationship.

The dresser’s influence now extends to the younger Royals – with Prince George christened in a lengthy robe made by Miss Kelly, who learnt sewing from her mother and aunt.

She is so close to the Monarch that she has written two books with the Queen’s approval and lives in a grace-and-favour home in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The Queen has been spotted ‘nipping in for tea’.

Ms Kelly rarely gives interviews but she once disclosed: ‘We are two typical women. We discuss clothes, make-up, jewellery.’

Kelly was given the Queen’s blessing to publish the first edition of The Other Side Of The Coin: The Queen, The Dresser And The Wardrobe in 2019.

This revised edition, which will be released ahead of the Platinum Jubilee, includes a new chapter that also covers the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, the first public engagements post-lockdown and looks ahead to the celebrations in June.

The title reveals some of the behind-the-scenes tricks used for the monarch’s attire.

She sews in extra layers of lining to cushion the impact of beading and crystals on the Queen’s back when events require glamorous gowns.

Tiny weights are also put into day-wear hemlines in case of windy weather and fabrics that crumple or could potentially develop messy loose strands are avoided.

Ms Kelly, who has the same size feet as the Queen, wears in the monarch’s handmade new shoes to ensure they are comfortable when first used.

The title will be published on May 12 by HarperCollins. Prince Harry’s long-awaited autobiography, meanwhile, is expected to be published later this year. 

The Duke of Sussex, 37, is set to publicly spill all on his relationship with his estranged family in an explosive £14.7million ($20million) memoir.

Speaking to the Telegraph Magazine ahead of the release of her new royal book, The Palace Papers, Tina Brown, 68, said the Duke of Sussex, 37, never made his peace with Prince Charles and Camilla’s relationship, and does not want Camilla to become Queen (pictured together with Meghan Markle on 22 May 2018)

The Royal Family has been left deeply concerned by Harry’s decision to secretly collaborate with Pulitzer-winning ghostwriter JR Moehringer on what his publishers described as ‘the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him’. 

However those close to the Duke of Sussex say he is unlikely to ‘go after’ the Queen in the book, and instead ‘really wants to celebrate her life’.

But it has been suggested he will ‘go after’ Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, in the book, a move which experts say may deepen his rift with the royal family.  

Speaking to the Telegraph Magazine ahead of the release of her new book, The Palace Papers, Tina Brown, 68, said the Duke of Sussex never made his peace with Prince Charles and Camilla’s relationship, and does not want Camilla to become Queen.

She added Prince Charles’ estranged son, who resides in California with his wife Meghan Markle, 40 and their children, Archie and Lilibet, is likely to voice his frustration in his memoirs.

Brown, who penned the Diana Chronicles in 2006, said: ‘William was disgusted about Meghan’s attack on Kate because she can’t answer back. But that’s nothing compared to how furious he’s going to be when this book comes out.

‘Because Harry’s not going to go after the Queen, she’s sacrosanct. And he probably won’t go after Kate, whom he’s very fond of. But he will go after Charles and Camilla and maybe William.

‘And that’s so unhelpful to them all at this particular moment; for William that’s the big cloud in their relationship right now.’

Prince Harry’s memoir, which is being published by Penguin Random House, is due to be released later this year.