Angela Kelly, the former dresser and confidante of Queen Elizabeth II, has agreed to cooperate with a film about her life story, the Mail on Sunday understands. Kelly, 68, wielded almost unparalleled influence inside the Royal Household during her three decades of service.
The 'scripted documentary' is expected to combine interviews, archive footage and potentially some dramatic reconstruction. Producers are reportedly working with Bafta-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock MBE, who wrote Mrs Brown, the Queen Victoria film starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.
"The royals will be worried, and they are right to be worried," an insider said. From her views on Brexit to King Charles himself, the late Queen's private thoughts remain a matter of keen speculation.
Known as 'gatekeeper' to the late Queen, Kelly was trusted to wear in the monarch's new shoes, arrange her hair and even massage her feet. The Queen once said the two women could have been "sisters." Kelly was among a select group at Balmoral when the Queen died four years ago.
Confidentiality agreement
Kelly has signed a confidentiality agreement that makes it hard for her to cash in on her time in the household, reportedly even barring her from using the words 'King' and 'Palace' for commercial purposes. But she may be protected by a letter from one of the Queen's private secretaries granting express permission to publish three books, only two of which have so far appeared.
"She knows everything you ever wanted to know, including the Queen's real views on Meghan," a royal observer said. "I don't think the Palace has a leg to stand on if she wants to tell her story. If Harry and Meghan can break all the rules, why can't she?"
The insider also said Kelly had often spoken about wanting to spend time in the US, adding there was "nothing they could do to her there." Kelly, who has acquired an agent, would reportedly be in high demand on the American chatshow circuit.
Clashes with palace staff
Not all courtiers admired Kelly. Willing to ruffle feathers and known for a fearsome temper, some Palace staff nicknamed her 'AK47', a play on her initials and the Soviet-era assault rifle.
She is said to feel bruised by how quickly she was asked to leave the household and vacate her cottage on the Windsor estate after the Queen's death, though friends insist she does not blame senior royals. The locks to the Queen's private apartments at Windsor were changed within days of her death, and Kelly's Palace-issued mobile phone was cut off.
In one Instagram post, Kelly wrote: "I am too old to worry about who likes me and who dislikes me!... If you love me, I love you! If you hate me, I don't care!"
There are said to be fears of a settling of scores, with Kelly reported to have clashed with both Camilla, when she was Duchess of Cornwall, and, famously, Prince Harry. In his memoir Spare, Harry accused Kelly of obstructing Meghan Markle's attempts to practise wearing her tiara with a hairdresser before their 2018 wedding.
Production company behind the film
The new film is understood to be controlled by 53 Degrees Global, a major London production company, working in collaboration with Walt Disney.
53 Degrees Global promotes itself as 'trusted by royalty' and makes documentaries under the True Royalty Originals brand, which is closely associated with the True Royalty TV streaming service, described as a Netflix for royal fans.
Books published with royal permission
It is a sign of the late Queen's warm regard for Kelly that she was given unprecedented 'permission and blessing' to publish two books while still a member of the Royal Household: Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe in 2012, and The Other Side of The Coin, The Queen, The Dresser and The Wardrobe in 2019.
Though packed with colourful anecdotes, including an occasion when the Queen and Kelly went stargazing, the books remained comparatively discreet. King Charles was said to have been dismayed by a photo in the second book showing his mother shoeless with her feet up on a divan.
From crane operator's daughter to royal dresser
Kelly, who now lives near Sheffield in a home bought for her by the King, has a remarkable personal history. She was born to a dockyard crane operator, worked as a lorry driver for the Women's Royal Army Corps, and later became housekeeper to Sir Christopher Mallaby, the British ambassador to Germany.
When the Queen and Prince Philip stayed during an official visit to Berlin in 1992, they met Kelly, and she was soon after offered a job as a dresser at the Palace. She went on to become personal assistant, adviser and curator to the Queen, and in 2023 was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
During the Queen's final months, Kelly moved into a room on the same floor as the monarch's private apartments at Windsor Castle, later telling friends she was effectively acting as the Queen's carer. She was one of only a handful of people in a chamber adjoining the bedroom where the Queen died at Balmoral.
Disney's interest
A source at Disney said the project would be "lapped up" by a US audience. "The market is flooded with royal stories but this one is unique," the source said. "This is a person with access to the Queen, a woman who never voiced her opinions publicly."
Buckingham Palace, Kelly and 53 Degrees Global were all approached for comment.
