Angela Kelly


Mary Angela Kelly, is a British fashion designer, dressmaker, and milliner, who served as Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser to Queen Elizabeth II from 1993 until the monarch's death in 2022. Her official title was Personal Assistant, Adviser and Curator to Her Majesty The Queen.

Early life

Kelly was born in Walton, Liverpool, as the daughter of a dock worker and a nurse. She was one of six children.

Career

Kelly began working for the Queen after gaining employment as the Queen's Dresser following an interview at Windsor Castle in 1994. She was responsible for the Queen's clothes, jewellery and insignia, researching the venues for royal visits as well as the significance of different colours, in order to create appropriate outfits for the monarch. In 2019, Kelly announced that the Queen would only wear faux-furs.
Notable creations by Kelly include:
Prince Harry alleged that Kelly was obstructive regarding a tiara promised by the Queen to his fiancée, Meghan Markle, for a rehearsal with her hairdresser prior to their Wedding of Prince [Harry and Meghan Markle|wedding in 2018]. Harry wrote in his memoir Spare that Kelly refused as "the tiara would require an orderly and a police escort to leave the palace" and that "She fixed me with a look that made me shiver. I could read in her face a clear warning. 'This isn't over.'" Kelly did not respond to Harry's recollections in his memoir.
With other members of the royal household, she attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022.

Other work

Kelly founded a fashion label, Kelly & Pordum, with Alison Pordum, who was also employed as the Queen's in-house dressmaker until 2008. Kelly is also the author of Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe and The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe.

Personal life

Kelly has three children with her first husband Frank Wylie. Her third marriage was to Irish Guardsman Jim Kelly.

Honours