The Queen is reported to be breaking royal protocol that stops her from attending funerals in order to attend that of one of her loyal servants.
The 93-year-old Monarch is planning to ignore royal rules to go to the funeral of her beloved housekeeper Annette Wilkin, who passed away at 72.
A royal insider told the Daily Mail: “We all called Annette the Queen because she had a regal air about her and a lovely cut-glass accent.”
“She was always immaculately dressed, fully in control of her job and kind to her staff,” the source said.
“The Queen and all the royals absolutely adored her and she was almost part of the family.
“She never married but was devoted to her job and gave her life to the royal family.”
Annette started working for the Royals in 1974 and served Windsor Castle for 45 years as well as Frogmore House.
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The Queen became so fond of her she gifted her Larch, one of her Corgi dogs, who would play under her desk as she planned the day.
When Annette handed in her notice in 2014 the Queen asked her to assist her senior dresser Angela Kelly and even bequeathed her a cottage at Windsor so the two could always be close.
During the documentary ‘The Queen’s Castle: Go Behind the Scenes at Windsor Castle’, Annette described her job as “a bit like looking after your own home but on this massive scale”.
She said of The Queen: “I have a very good boss who will see everything – nothing gets missed.”
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The Queen has attended the funerals of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher and will attend the services of family members and close personal friends, but in all other cases sends personal representatives to pay her respects.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on this story.
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