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The Queen does her own makeup for every occasion except this one

For the occasion, she calls upon makeup artist Marilyn Widdess 

Chelsea Ritschel
Friday 01 November 2019 20:25 GMT
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Queen Elizabeth does her own makeup for every occasion except one (Getty)
Queen Elizabeth does her own makeup for every occasion except one (Getty)

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Queen Elizabeth may employ a royal dresser, but when it comes to makeup, she prefers to do it herself.

According to the 93-year-old monarch’s dressmaker, Angela Kelly, there is just one day a year that the Queen relies on someone else to do her makeup - for her annual Christmas speech.

“You might be surprised to know that this is this is the only occasion throughout the year when Her Majesty does not do her own makeup,” Kelly revealed in her new book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe.

For the occasion, which sees the Queen address the nation in a televised broadcast, she relies on TV makeup artist Marilyn Widdess to make her look her best, according to Kelly.

However, that doesn’t mean the Queen plays it safe when it comes to creating her own beauty looks. Known for embracing colour, Queen Elizabeth II typically adds red or pink lipstick to her variety of brightly coloured outfits.

The Queen uses a makeup artist just once a year (Getty)
The Queen uses a makeup artist just once a year (Getty)

In the book, Kelly, who has served as personal assistant and senior dresser to the Queen since 2002, also revealed other details about her job working for the monarch, such as the measures taken each year to stop royal insiders from cheating when it comes to betting on what the Queen will wear to Royal Ascot.

According to Kelly, every morning of the event, which spans five days every summer, four or five hats that the Queen has previously worn are placed on a table in the workroom at Windsor Castle.

The decoy hats are put in place to stop anyone from placing a bet from an unfair advantage on what colour the Queen will wear.

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“This will stop anyone catching sight of the hat Her Majesty actually intends to wear and, with inside knowledge, betting a vast amount of money on the correct colour of the Queen’s hat for opening day at Royal Ascot,” Kelly writes. “This is cheating and unfair on everyone else.”

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