Queen Elizabeth Relationship With Adviser Made Palace Staff Jealous: Report

Queen Elizabeth's relationship with a personal assistant reportedly made some other staff members at Buckingham Palace jealous.

On Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died at 96 years old, making her Britain's longest-reigning queen.

"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," the palace said in a statement on its website. "The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

However, years before her death, the U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper interviewed Queen Elizabeth's personal assistant Angela Kelly in 2007, when she detailed her relationship with the queen.

While speaking with the Telegraph, Kelly said that as she continued to form a closer relationship with Queen Elizabeth, some other Buckingham Palace staff members became jealous.

"I don't have any more room for knives in my back," Kelly jokingly told the Telegraph. "Some people have made up all sorts of stories about me, which is sad, but most people are very supportive. We work as a team and everyone, especially in the Master of the Household's Department, is very professional."

Kelly continued, "I suppose the queen must have liked me and decided I was trustworthy and discreet."

According to the Telegraph, Kelly began working with Queen Elizabeth in 1993 and was later promoted to the queen's personal dresser, before becoming a personal assistant to Elizabeth II.

"My loyalty is to the queen and the girls I work with. If I died tomorrow, my girls have been trained to make sure that the Queen's life carries on smoothly without me. But I hope the Queen and I grow old together," Kelly told the Telegraph.

In 2019, Kelly published an updated version of her book, The Other Side of The Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, where she further discussed her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II.

In a press release announcing the updated version of the book, Kelly's publisher, Katya Shipster, said, "It tells the story of the Royal Bubble as well as the lengths that Angela and the Royal Household went to, to ensure the safety of our monarch....There is no better look at what goes on behind the pomp and circumstance than this."

Prior to her death on Thursday, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying, "Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's Health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision."

Newsweek reached out to Buckingham Palace for further comment.