Queen’s Closest Confidante to Release Updated Version of Bestselling Book

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 16 April 2022

It’s an extreme understatement to say much has happened in Her Majesty’s life since October 2019: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s step back from being working members of the royal family in January 2020. COVID-19 lockdowns beginning in March 2020. Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. The death of her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, in April 2021. Marking 70 years on the throne in February 2022. And that’s just the short list.

Who knows if the Queen’s personal stylist and dressmaker Angela Kelly’s updated version of her bestselling book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, The Dresser and the Wardrobe—hitting shelves in the U.K. May 12, ahead of the Platinum Jubilee—will tackle all of these topics, but we do know that this revised version will address Her Majesty’s life in lockdown substantially and in deeply personal detail. The book is getting an update in honor of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, set for the beginning of June.

And here’s a tidbit we already know: It was Kelly herself who was dispatched to cut Her Majesty’s hair during lockdown, a result of the Queen’s staff being scaled back to a small “bubble” of aides and servants, per PEOPLE.

Kelly will also address the funeral of Philip, what it was like to be isolated in Windsor Castle during lockdown, and what went on behind the scenes of the Queen’s first public engagements as lockdowns began to lift.

Since beginning her career at Buckingham Palace 28 years ago as the Queen’s Senior Dresser, Kelly has become one of Her Majesty’s closest confidantes, and The Other Side of the Coin was a juicy—yet Monarch-approved—look at some of the inner workings of royal life, including that Kelly cleans Her Majesty’s jewels using gin and water, that one of the few times the Queen doesn’t do her own makeup is for her annual Christmas broadcast, and that, since Kelly conveniently wears the same size shoe as Her Majesty, she is often tasked with breaking new shoes in for the Queen. Kelly is the first member of the Queen’s personal staff to have been given permission to write a book about her royal role.

“[The revised book] tells the story of the royal bubble as well as the lengths Angela and the Royal Household went to, to ensure the safety of our Monarch,” says HarperCollins’ nonfiction editorial director Katya Shipster about the updated book, which also includes commemorative packaging and new photography. “There is no better look at what goes on behind the pomp and circumstance than this wonderful book.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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