Late Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly has an ‘unequalled’ knowledge of the royal household

Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘best friend’ Angela Kelly has an ‘unequalled’ knowledge of the royal household, royal experts have said, amid claims King Charles may have gifted her a house to avoid another memoir.

Ms Kelly, the late Queen’s confidante and stylist for more than 20 years, is leaving her grace-and-favour cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle for a new life in the Peak District – 180 miles away.

She has written two books and is understood to have had the Queen’s blessing to write a third about Her Majesty’s love of dogs as a gesture of thanks for Angela’s years of service, as well as to provide some financial assurance for her future. 

But a source has told the Mail the King’s provision of a house for the duration of Angela Kelly’s life is almost certain to have come with strings attached.

Royal biographer Tom Bower today said the King ‘wants to keep the lid on any more revelations’.

Angela Kelly outside her Windsor home, which she is leaving following the death of the Queen

Royal dressmaker Ms Kelly, pictured right with her ‘best friend’ the Queen and Anna Wintour in 2018

Although Angela Kelly (pictured with Queen) was not thought to have been officially on duty at the time of the Queen’s death on September 8, she was among a handful of close staff who were at her side for her final days in Scotland

He told MailOnline: ‘Charles knows better than most the importance of keeping key retainers close and utterly silent. Paul Burrell. Diana’s valet, caused mayhem when he published his “memoirs” and pocketed well over £1 million.

‘Plagued by publicity seeking princes Andrew and Harry, King Charles wants to keep the lid on any more revelations. I’m sure he will look after Angela Kelly like a hawk – a very generous hawk.’

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams added: ‘The phrase “the old order changes giving place to new” certainly applies to royal employees when the monarch, to whom they were close, dies.

‘King Edward VII dismissed Queen Victoria’s confidant Abdul “the Munshi” Karim. Diana’s self-styled “rock”, her butler, Paul Burrell, was involved in a sensational court case in which he was acquitted.

‘Queen Elizabeth’s Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser for 20 years, Angela Kelly, has clearly indicated her frustration with the way she is being treated by King Charles, on Instagram. 

‘She is leaving her Grace-and-favour home on the Windsor Estate and moving to Yorkshire, to a home reportedly given to her by the King, which will revert to the Crown on her death. Her work mobile has been disconnected. She is not happy.’

Mr Fitzwilliams also said Ms Kelly’s inside knowledge of the Royal Family would be ‘unequalled’.

He continued: ‘She produced two books which were unique in that they highlighted her closeness to the Queen, whom she undoubtedly dressed superbly. Yet it has been reported that King Charles regarded some photographs she used as inappropriate.

‘The likelihood is that her new home has been gifted on the understanding that there will be no further revelations about her relationship with the Queen or of any royal matters. 

‘Her knowledge of life in the Royal Household over nearly 30 years would be unequalled. King Charles knows the trouble this can cause as Harry’s memoir Spare recently showed all too clearly. According to reports, the Sussexes were asked to quit Frogmore Cottage the day after its publication.’

Sharing a picture of her garden in Windsor before she moved out, Angela revealed she is off to the Peak District

She said under the garden image: ‘Getting ready to say goodbye. I am moving at last to my new home which I will be able to call My Home at last’

Ms Kelly posted memes related to positive thinking and ignoring negativity and being ‘too old’ to worry about people who don’t like you in a series of Instagram stories

The agreement usually means a non-disclosure agreement, preventing interviews or memoirs about royal service. 

One friend said: ‘Could she make a lot of money from all she knows? You bet she could.’

In the past, Ms Kelly talked of spending time in America, where she would almost certainly be in demand on the TV chat show circuit. Such a prospect would give Palace aides palpitations.

As Prince of Wales, Charles was said to have been dismayed when Ms Kelly was granted his mother’s permission to write a series of books about her life with the Queen.

Friends of fiery Ms Kelly, the Liverpool docker’s daughter known at the AK47 because of her temper, feel she has been treated badly after such loyal and devoted service and say she has become another victim of the King’s ‘property merry-go-round’. 

As she prepared for a new life in the Peak District, 180 miles away from Windsor, she was unusually candid this week on her public ‘Agenthighheels’ Instagram account.

Ms Kelly, 65, poignantly posted a picture of her garden, telling friends: ‘Getting ready to say goodbye. I am moving at last to my new home which I will be able to call My Home at last.’

In response to a friend, she posted: ‘I’m moving to the Peak District just further on than Sheffield so not too far away from the family. My work phone has been disconnected but hopefully you have this one…Looking forward to my New Adventures [with smiling emoji]’. 

Her Instagram stories from last Friday suggest she was defiant to the end. She posted: ‘I am too old to worry about who likes me and who dislikes me! I have more important things to do! If you love me – I love you! If you support me – I support you! If you hate me – I don’t care!’ 

She followed that with a Gif of a child chanting: ‘I can’t do negative today. Positive vibes, positive vibes!’

Ms Kelly was praised for overhauling the Queen’s image with outfits in eye-catching colours and matching hats. As Her Majesty’s health faltered, Ms Kelly became more of a personal assistant. The monarch had once told her: ‘We could be sisters.’ 

On the day of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral last year, Ms Kelly described it as ‘a very sad day for me today. I said goodbye to my best friend.’

Many in royal circles expected she would be granted accommodation for life after her decades of service to the late monarch.

She was recently recognised by King Charles in a special honours awards marking the death of the Queen.

But eyebrows were raised when she only became a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, rather than a Dame Commander as might have been expected.

But despite – or perhaps because of – Ms Kelly’s closeness to the Queen, some in the Royal Household were suspicious of her, and one insider suggested to the Mail on Sunday that perhaps ‘scores were being settled’.

A source told the paper: ‘She’s been told she will soon have to move out. It’s a nice little place on the Windsor Estate and it was convenient for seeing her grandson, who was at college nearby.

‘But the King has made it clear that under the new reign people will have to cut their cloth. The King is clearly not in the habit of providing homes for those no longer working for the monarchy.’