Queen Elizabeth Has Used The Same Handbag For Almost 50 Years
It’s highly likely that Queen Elizabeth has a palace closet full of fabulous handbags, but according to a source at the UK’s Daily Star, Her Royal Highness has been using the same purse for almost 50 years! Apparently, the Queen has a collection of more than 200 luxurious accessories personally created for her by her favorite British brand, Launer, and her preferred handbag design has an emblem on it that dates it back to 1968.
A royal source dished that the 92-year-old’s black purse with a silver accent was originally made by Launer for another company called Rayne, which manufactured the Queen’s shoes for decades. In 1968, Elizabeth awarded Launer a Royal Warrant, which is a mark of recognition for those who have given the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh or the Prince of Wales goods or services for at least five years.
Following the Royal Warrant, Launer began making handbags for Elizabeth with a distinct twisted rope emblem. However, the Queen kept using one handbag in particular for many of her outings and it seems to be the one thing that you’ll never miss her holding during her royal appearances.
In fact, Elizabeth’s beloved handbag is so special that it was on display in the Queen’s 2018 portrait that she recently posed for in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle. “It was almost happenstance that it was placed there,” artist Benjamin Sullivan told the Daily Star of featuring the bag in his portrait. “It’s where she put it and I thought I could take it out. But then I thought it’s actually quite a nice thing, a personal thing.”
While we use our purses to hold essentials (and random stuff), the Queen apparently uses her handbag to convey secret messages to her staff! “It would be very worrying if you were talking to the Queen and saw the handbag move from one hand to the other,” Hugo Vickers once revealed to People while explaining that the gesture means that she wants her staff to usher her away.
The Queen’s tricks get sneakier, though. Apparently, placing her bag on a dinner table means that Elizabeth wants the event to be wrapped up in five minutes. Rest assured, the Queen’s purse does have more functionality than just sending covert signs. According to royal expert and author Bedell Smith, the beloved royal always makes sure her handbag is always ready to go with reading glasses, mints, a tube of lipstick, a compact mirror, and a pen for a typical day.
To learn more about the Queen’s handbag and to see her carrying her favorite purse over the years, be sure to scroll down!
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