Welcome to this week’s edition of to get all the latest royal news and gossip with Tom Sykes and Tim Teeman.
Charles gifts queen’s dresser new home
King Charles has gifted Angela Kelly, the queen’s dresser and close confidante, a new home in Yorkshire. The Mail on Sunday reports that “it is thought that the king has bought the property, which will revert to the Crown on her death.”
A source told the paper: “Angela wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea but nevertheless the King had no wish to see her homeless. I get the impression the King just didn’t want to be living next door to her.” A source close to the Palace added: “The narrative that the King is heartless has all been very wide of the mark. His Majesty has never wanted to see anybody homeless, particularly someone who has been so loyal.”
Could some hasty face-saving and make-nice PR be at work here, as it was only recently reported that the palace had asked Kelly to vacate her grace-and-favor Windsor estate home? The formidable Kelly was nicknamed “AK-47,” thanks to her alleged temper, so the palace could be looking to soothe any tensions, as she may be planning to write another book about dressing the queen. Now no longer under royal employ—and with her much-loved mistress dead—who knows what she may feel moved to say, especially if she feels aggrieved in how she’s been treated?
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II sits next to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council, and royal dressmaker Angela Kelly as they view Richard Quinn’s runway show before presenting him with the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design as she visits London Fashion Week, in London, Britain February 20, 2018.
REUTERS/Yui Mok/Pool
“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,” Kelly posted on social media in recent days, the paper reported, adding to a friend: “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].”
On Instagram Stories, Kelly 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 added a gif of a child chanting: “I can’t do negative today. Positive vibes, positive vibes!”
Well, it seems Kelly and the palace are at least in agreement about the need for that.
‘Chorus of millions’ will pay homage to new (forever) king
We all know that slightly awkward moment at a wedding when the inclusively-minded priest turns to the congregation after the “I do” bit and says something like, “And do you all pledge to support them all their days of their marriage?” and the crowd has to mumble back, “We do.”
It looks like something similar is being planned for the coronation, with the presiding Archbishop of Canterbury urging TV viewers to pledge allegiance to the new kinging from their sitting rooms. A church spokesperson was quoted by the Telegraph as saying: “For the first time in history, a chorus of millions in this country and around the world will be invited to participate in this solemn and joyful moment.
“Our hope is that people watching at home on their own… will say it out loud—this sense of a great cry around the nation and around the world of support for the king.”
— Church spokesperson
That’s something that we can share in because of technological advances, so not just the people in the Abbey, but people who are online, on television, who are listening, and who are gathered in parks, at big screens and churches. Our hope is that…when the Archbishop invites people to join in, that people wherever they are, if they’re watching at home on their own, watching the telly, will say it out loud—this sense of a great cry around the nation and around the world of support for the king.”
The Sunday Times said that those watching at home will be invited to recite a passage, swearing to “pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.”
After the Archbishop says “God save the King”, they will then be invited to say: “God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May The King live for ever.”
Forever?!
The Prince and Princess of Wales with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis attending the Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Britain April 9, 2023.
Yui Mok/Pool via REUTERS
This week in royal history
Happy birthday Princess Charlotte! She turns 8 on Tuesday May 2.
Unanswered questions
All Coronation-related, naturellement. How snazzy and extravagant will this ‘slimmed-down” event be? Will anyone care? Will the boredom and shrugging that has been such a feature of the build-up be echoed on the day, or will folks get into the pomp and circumstance of it all? How long will Harry stay? How will the family treat him? And can Charles command a nation and world’s attention as much as his late mother?
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