It's All in the Handbag! Late Queen Elizabeth Used Iconic Purses to Send Coded Clues to Staff for Help Out of Cringey Encounters
The late Queen Elizabeth II was know for her iconic handbags, but the accessories were also used to send special codes to her staff when she wanted to flee a conversation.
Along with her colorful outfits and corgis by her feet, the late Queen Elizabeth II was also known for her signature handbags, which she carried around with her in public and private. Now, royal historian Hugo Vickers dished how the monarch would simply shift her bags around to send coded clues to her staff — typically when Her Majesty wanted to flee a conversation!
"If the Queen shifted her bag from one hand to the next, it signaled that she was ready to end her current conversation," he revealed. "As well as this, if those in the know saw that the Queen had placed her bag on a table, they would be aware that the Queen was ready to leave an event in the next five minutes."
If staff didn't catch that gesture with her purse, the longest-reigning monarch in British history would then go for the "nuclear code."
"Finally, if the Queen started to twist her wedding ring, immediate action was required!" Vickers added. "The twisting of the ring means she wished to exit a conversation without delay."
Before Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, numerous royal analysts speculated on whether the sovereign's handbag movements meant something.
"By holding something like her clutch bag, it is perhaps giving her an 'excuse' to not extend her hand to everyone," protocol expert William Hanson told an outlet in 2019. "She can't shake the hands of everyone she meets – the duchess [now princess] would be there all day!"
Her Majesty was reportedly a stickler for avoiding fashion clashes and took direct steps to ensure her guests did not match her chosen outfits for an event.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's wife, Carrie Johnson, once received a note while staying at Balmoral Castle reminding her not to upstage the monarch's fashion choice.
"Ma'am, Her Majesty will be wearing an ice blue cocktail dress for dinner this evening," the message read.
"Kept this note that was left on my pillow when we stayed at Balmoral. How lucky I feel to have got to meet and speak with her a little. We were so lucky she was our Queen," Carrie shared on her Instagram.
Carrie and her husband, like every prime minister and their spouse before them, were the guests of Elizabeth II for one weekend of their choosing in either August or September each year. The tradition became known as "the PM's weekend," which was either loved (Winston Churchill and John Major) or loathed (Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair) depending on the respective prime minister's taste.
Boris and his wife seemed to fall into the "loved it" category.
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Daily Mirror reported on Vickers' insights.
