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Apparently Queen Elizabeth II Sends Secret Messages With Her Handbags

So sneaky!
We wonder what signal the Queen is giving here?
WPA Pool via Getty Images
We wonder what signal the Queen is giving here?
We wonder what signal the Queen is giving here?
WPA Pool via Getty Images
We wonder what signal the Queen is giving here?

If you’ve got a meeting coming up with Queen Elizabeth II, there are a few things you should brush up on: your knowledge of corgis, the proper way to bow and just what her handbag could be telling you.

While meeting with people, Her Majesty apparently uses her handbags to communicate signals to her team, according to royal historian Hugo Vickers in a recently resurfaced interview with People magazine.

“It would be very worrying if you were talking to the queen and saw the handbag move from one hand to the other,” Vickers said, as that’s reportedly a signal she wants to end the conversation. “Someone would come along and say, ‘Sir, the Archbishop of Canterbury would very much like to meet you.’”

Vickers added that if the queen wants to leave a situation immediately, she’ll spin a ring on her finger or put her hand bag on the floor.

The handbags in question are generally from Her Majesty’s favorite brand, the British luxury brand Launer. The brand first gave the queen a bag in 1968 and she later granted them the Royal Warrant (a high mark of recognition reserved for goods or services that supply Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh or the Prince of Wales).

Queen Elizabeth II carrying a Launer hand bag, identifiable by the gold logo on the bag.
POOL New / Reuters
Queen Elizabeth II carrying a Launer hand bag, identifiable by the gold logo on the bag.

Her Majesty evidently prefers her bags with longer handles, so it’s easier to shake people’s hands:

Queen Elizabeth is welcomed by the Right Reverend John Hall, Dean of Westminster as she arrives before the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton in central London, April 29, 2011.
Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
Queen Elizabeth is welcomed by the Right Reverend John Hall, Dean of Westminster as she arrives before the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton in central London, April 29, 2011.

We’re looking at her bags in an entirely new way now!

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