her beauty gesture was a secret sign addressed to her staff

After more than seventy years of reign, Queen Elizabeth II left us definitively on September 8, 2022, giving way to Charles III, the first heir to the throne. If her longevity could be enough to put Her Majesty’s name in the history books for many years to come, many other elements will allow us to never forget it.

Elizabeth II was particularly known for her unparalleled kindness and her sense of detail. She always took care to embellish her colorful outfits with a little accessory, for an amazing reason. As Ian Scott Hunter, who worked alongside her as a footman for eight years, recently revealed, Elizabeth II also knew how be heard without even opening your mouth. In a special episode of Antiques Roadshow, this man revealed that she had several “key” gestures to communicate with his team. One of them was to get over lipstick in public ; find out what that meant.

Elizabeth II: her discreet coded gestures to communicate with her staff

According to the words of her former servant, Elizabeth II used to wear lipstick in public to make her staff heard that she wanted leave an event. This is not the only non-verbal signal used by the Queen of England: Kristen Meinzer, a royal expert, had revealed to The Royal that the queen passed her handbag from one arm to the other to politely indicate that she wanted end a conversation. “Supposedly, if she’s standing at an event and mingling with people and talking, and she’s swinging her purse from arm to arm, she’s telling her staff that she’d like someone to interrupt the conversation and end it.”

For banquets and formal dinners, she had a similar technique: Historian Hugo Vickers once told People that if she put her purse on the table, she indicated her wish to leave within five minuteswhereas if the accessory was placed on the ground, it was necessary to understand that the time had elapsed.