Three essential items Queen Elizabeth kept in her handbag

Queen Elizabeth’s handbag reportedly included three essential items – but one of them was not very common.

The late monarch was famous for always carrying her handbags – notably by handbag designer Launer – in the crook of her arm.

Reports over the years even suggested that the placement of her handbags would even be used to send coded signals to her staff during engagements.

But there has been a lot of interest regarding the contents of the late Queen’s handbags and now, according to a royal expert, we have a rough idea of what it was.

The Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English said that the late monarch would usually carry normal everyday items in her handbag with one exception – a mirror, a lipstick and a sucker.

She said while speaking on Palace Confidential: “Queen Elizabeth would always have that Launer handbag on her arm.

“There have been enough little tidbits from staff and people who have sat next to her at dinners over the years, who have seen her open it, to give us a fair idea of what was in it.”

“Mirror, lipstick, and I know somebody who said that after dinner once, she actually got her compact out and touched on her lipstick, and all of them were like, oh thank god we can do the same.”

But Elizabeth would have various other items.

Ms English added: “Tissues, glasses, mints, but also I was told by somebody that she would sometimes have a little kind of sucker in it.

“She didn’t like to put her bag down on the floor, and she would use the sucker to hold it to a table or to a wall or something like that.

“We’ve also heard some stories about her having family photographs and charms in there.

“But also if she went to church, she would have a five or ten-pound note, always ironed. A mixture of the typical but also with a bit of royal touches in.”