In her book, The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser, and the Wardrobe, Angela Kelly revealed a special moment between herself and the late monarch. She also shared images of the Queen that had never been seen in public before the release of her book, in 2019. Body language expert Judi James has analysed the photos to unveil more about the Queen’s personality and character, away from the world’s lens.
According to Angela Kelly, the Queen had always longed to have her portrait taken in a more casual pose, specifically with her hands in her pockets.
Her Majesty’s royal advisers and even her mother had, however, advised against it and said it would be inappropriate.
But while researching her book, Angela asked the Queen if she wanted to make her dream a reality, and the monarch jumped at the opportunity.
The Queen was confident while talking to the photographer on the day, Barry Jeffrey, about what she wanted, saying, according to Angela: “No Barry, this is how we are going to do it. Just keep the camera rolling.”
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Angela continued: “Her Majesty took her position in front of the lens and started striking a series of poses, slipping her hands in and out of her pockets and placing them on to her hips, mimicking the stance of a professional model. I stood in disbelief, the Queen was a natural.”
Although the photos were not published in Angela’s book, they were acquired by photography agencies around the same time as its release.
This was because the Royal Collection disallowed the publishing of the photos in Angela’s book. The royal adviser explained that “their opinion was that these more candid photographs would bring the Monarchy down”.
“Why they thought that, I have no idea,” she added.
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In the photos, the Queen is wearing an off-white knitted dress with long sleeves and a shin-skimming skirt.
Her hands are deep in the dress’ pockets and she is grinning widely, looking away from the camera and to the side.
For the occasion, she had accessorised her dress with a brooch and her three-stranded pearl necklace, which she was rarely seen without.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Judi James commented: “The Queen always adopted the traditional regal poses with such elegance that it is a surprise to see these photos that show that a free spirit and what looks like a natural flair for high fashion posing was hiding beneath the formality all the time.
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“She might have had an urge to just put her hands into her pockets, but when she does her entire body moves into the kind of shapes she might have seen in Vogue or Harper’s when she was a young woman.
“One knee bends inward and her hips angle outward while she turns her head to perform a very stylish fashion plate look.”
Judi focused on the Queen’s personality that oozed out of these photos, saying: “It was so good to glimpse the Queen during a more off-guard moment and to see from her body language how happy and playful she was, and how lacking in self-consciousness.
“To adopt poses as accurate as this suggests she might have adored looking through fashion magazines when she was younger, as well as watching models on the catwalk.
“The mere act of shoving her hands into her pockets for a change seems to have released feelings of freedom after decades of handbags or standing with her hands folded in front of her torso.”
The body language expert added that “we all love to find pockets in an outfit and the Queen was clearly no exception”.
“It brought out the Jean Shrimpton or Suzy Parker side to her personality, and it is so touching and poignant to finally get to see this view of her more free and fun side after her death,” she said.
