Late Queen's aide to leave her royal home amid rumours of rift

Angela Kelly - Chris Jackson Collection
Angela Kelly - Chris Jackson Collection

The late Queen's right-hand woman has said she is moving out of her grace and favour home amid rumours of a rift with other members of the family.

Angela Kelly, Queen Elizabeth’s personal dresser and confidante of 25 years, said she was “getting ready to say goodbye” to her home at Windsor Castle.

It comes as rumours circulate of a rift between the late Queen’s loyal aide and senior members of the Royal family after the monarch's death.

Ms Kelly wrote on her Instagram that she was preparing to vacate her cottage and move 180 miles away to the Peak District and that her work phone had been “disconnected”.

“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,” she wrote.

The 65-year-old added in response 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.”

The late Queen with Anna Wintour, editor of US Vogue and Ms Kelly at a show for London Fashion Week in 2018 - Getty
The late Queen with Anna Wintour, editor of US Vogue and Ms Kelly at a show for London Fashion Week in 2018 - Getty

Many in royal circles expected she would be granted accommodation for life after her decades of service to the late Queen, and it was not expected that aides who lived in grace and favour homes would be asked to leave after the monarch’s death.

Ms Kelly worked for Queen Elizabeth for more than 25 years and was recently recognised as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order by the King, after having received her RVO in 2012.

In separate Instagram stories on Friday morning, she posted a video of a child saying “Positive vibes only” and another one which read: “I am too old to worry about who likes me and who dislikes me”.

Ms Kelly ruffled feathers in the royal household when she was placed at the centre of a dispute over the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding tiara.

Prince Harry accused the Queen’s personal dresser of failing to accommodate suitable trial fittings and later wrote in his memoir, Spare: “She [Ms Kelly] was being obstructive…To my mind, Angela was a troublemaker and I didn't need her as an enemy”.

Ms Kelly has previously said of her friendship with the late Queen: “We are two typical women. We discuss clothes, make-up, jewellery.”

Buckingham Palace was approached for comment.