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Queen Elizabeth II spent much of her life travelling the world – in fact, she was in Africa when she learned her father had died and she had become queen. And during her time as monarch, she had specific ideas about how she wanted to enjoy her time at 35,000 feet.
The Queen liked to keep a bowl of Velva peppermints next to her and in her dressing room during flights, according to confidential instructions given to a British Airways flight attendant on a royal flight in 1989 during a tour of Malaysia and Singapore. The instructions are among memorabilia from the flight attendant who once worked for the monarch that will be auctioned this month.
The instructions also stated that she was “prone to drinking a martini before the arrival of her guests” and the crew were warned to let the Queen sleep if she was not awake when they landed.
Queen Elizabeth II, who made more than 250 international flights during her 70-year reign, also preferred to have her own pillows on the plane and wanted her bed made in a certain way, according to the 1989 instructions.
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Queen Elizabeth II liked to keep a bowl of Velva peppermints by her side and in her dressing room during her flight, according to confidential instructions given to a British Airways flight attendant for a 1989 royal flight on which the Queen toured Malaysia. (Hanson’s Auctioneers/Fox News)
The instructions were found among the belongings of former British Airways (BA) flight attendant Elizabeth Evans by her niece in her home in South Africa following her death.
“Having found this treasure trove of my aunt’s career and experiences at BA, particularly the amazing journeys on Concorde and her service to the Queen, I found it sad that none of it saw the light of day,” Jo Smallwood told Hanson Auctioneers. “I believe this collection is a little piece of history that someone should share and enjoy.”
Evans’ collection of memorabilia also includes signed menus and autographs from celebrities from her time as a flight attendant starting in 1970, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Swayze, Billie Jean King and Rod Stewart.
Queen Elizabeth spent much of her life traveling the world and she had specific ideas about how she wanted to enjoy her time at 10,750 meters. (John Stillwell/PA Images via Getty Images / Getty Images)
It is expected to sell for between $500 and nearly $800 over the next week.
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“I knew of some things Elizabeth had kept from her career at BA, but nothing to this extent,” said Smallwood. “She married late in life and moved to Devon and eventually to Hermanus in South Africa. The items were found in her study there after her death at the age of 70 in 2017. I came across them when I travelled to South Africa to arrange the funeral.”
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, added: “Elizabeth was obviously highly valued by BA for looking after some of the most important people in the world. Take the British Airways Royal Flight of 1989, for example. Her memorabilia includes confidential instructions on how to look after our late Queen and Prince Philip – right down to the sweets Her Majesty preferred upon take-off.”
The Queen and Prince Philip on tour in 1977. (Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Different members of the royal family have different attitudes to travel and what they pack, and some members of the royal family are very particular about their clothes and the way they wear them,” etiquette coach William Hanson said of packing for a royal tour in the 2022 docuseries “A Royal Guide To…” “And there’s a lot of changing clothes, and there are new outfits almost every quarter of a day, and they could be gone for two or three weeks.”
When packing for a trip, members of the royal family must also take a special item with them.
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, owns some of Elizabeth Evans’ aviation memorabilia. (Hanson’s Auctioneers/Fox News)
“Members of the royal family must always travel in black clothing,” Hanson said. “Black dress, black hat, black gloves, black tie, a very dark suit. In case a tragedy occurs.”
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on a flight in 1969. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
This rule may have its origins in the time when the then Princess Elizabeth learned of the death of her father, King George VI, in Kenya in February 1952 and had to return to Great Britain.
The instructions were discovered among the belongings of former British Airways flight attendant Elizabeth Evans’ home in South Africa by her niece following her death. (Hanson’s Auctioneers/Fox News)
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“She’s only been on tour for four days, so she had to come back suddenly, a very, very long flight, but they don’t have a black dress,” royal expert and historian Wesley Kerr explained in the docuseries. “And it’s a very solemn moment as she comes down the steps at Heathrow where (Prime Minister Winston) Churchill is waiting, but there’s a little delay while she changes into a black dress. So you couldn’t have a more dramatic or sad start to a reign.”
