Queen Elizabeth II uses the purse as a means to send messages to the secret service
"It would be very disturbing if I were talking to the Queen and saw how the bag is changed from one hand to another," explained the royal historian Hugo Vickers
Being a queen has many advantages, some of them very important, such as personally meeting characters that will mark history, and others very banal, such as not having the need to carry a purse since her entourage will be in charge of transporting everything necessary for the monarch. However, most European queens and princesses carry this accessory and many wonder why. The Queen of England's biographer, Sally Bedell Smith revealed what Elizabeth II was carrying in her purse: a mirror, a lipstick, a fountain pen, some mints for the throat, some glasses and on Sundays she brings money to give as a donation to church.
But, apparently, she uses the purse to send signals to her staff more than anything else. "It would be very disturbing if I were talking to the queen and saw how the bag is changed from one hand to another," royal historian Hugo Vickers told the British magazine People. "That is the signal the queen uses to signal to her staff that she is ready to end her conversation," he explained. «It is a very discreet way in order not to offend anyone. At that point someone on her staff would come up to her and say something like, 'Ma'am, the Archbishop of Canterbury would very much like to meet you,' a masterful tactic.
Other signals that Queen Elizabeth uses with this current accessory is, for example, if she puts her bag on the table at dinner, it means that she wants the event to end in the next five minutes, instead, if she puts the bag on the floor. It means that she is not enjoying the conversation and wants to be rescued by her maid of honor.
According to the historian, the most important gesture for the queen is not performed with her purse, but with her wedding ring. "When the Queen spins it around, she means she needs to be rescued immediately," Vickers argues.
Queen Elizabeth II is not the only one who uses the bag for other functions, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, tightly holds her handbag when she gets nervous, in this way to control her tremors.
