Queen Elizabeth reportedly had secret signals she would send to her staff when she wanted to politely exit a conversation.These included moving her handbag from one arm to the other, placing it on the floor or a table, twisting her wedding ring, and applying lipstick without a mirror.Other royals allegedly have their own tricks—like Princess Kate, who’s said to use a clutch bag to avoid endless handshakes.

Queen Elizabeth II may have had more in common with James Bond than she let on. Her Late Majesty reportedly had a set of secret signals she used to communicate with staff. The key to her code? Primarily, her handbag.

While she fraternized with celebrities, aristocrats, and heads of state, the monarch would make subtle adjustments to her signature arm candy indicating she was done with the conversation. That’s according to royal historian Hugo Vickers, who spilled on Elizabeth’s secret messages in a 2011 People interview. 

“It would be very worrying if you were talking to the Queen and saw the handbag move from one hand to the other,” he noted. Yet she would try to be tactful so her conversation partner wasn’t offended. “It would be done very nicely,” Vickers said. “Someone would come along and say, ‘Sir, the Archbishop of Canterbury would very much like to meet you,’” ushering you away from Elizabeth.

The handbag wasn’t the only part of her surprisingly complex code. The queen’s lipstick, ring, and a secret button also allowed her to make polite escapes from awkward or dull interactions. Below, find out what each of her seemingly innocent adjustments meant to her staff, who were attuned to her secret signals.

Switching her handbag to the other arm meant she was ready to wrap up.

Queen Elizabeth wears her handbag on her left arm in October 2021.

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Queen Elizabeth typically wore her purse on her left arm. During an overlong or uncomfortable conversation, however, she would switch it to her right arm so a staff member could swoop in and escort her or the other person away, Vickers told People. The guest would ideally be none the wiser to the signal, simply assuming Elizabeth’s signature Launer London bag was making one of her arms tired.

Putting her bag on the floor signaled a more urgent need to escape.

Queen Elizabeth II attends her birthday parade in June 2021.

Max Mumby/Indigo – Pool/Getty Images

To really catch her ladies-in-waitings’ attention, the queen would resort to more drastic measures—like placing her beloved handbag on (gasp) the floor. Vickers said this move would show, “Her Majesty is truly keen on making her escape…indicating that her staff should move her along, pronto.”

The move was especially telling given that Elizabeth kept a portable hook in her bag, per Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Woman Behind The Throne (via The Telegraph). This hook allowed her to easily hang her purse on the edge of a table—avoiding the dirt and germs of the floor, as well as the poor etiquette of placing it directly on the eating area. (A bag on the table would, for the queen, be another way to communicate she needed a rescue.)

The queen would also spin her wedding ring to ask for a prompt exit.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles laugh during the 2012 Braemar Highland Gathering.

Indigo/Getty Images

Beyond the bag signals, the monarch also made use of another staple accessory: her Welsh gold wedding ring. Vickers highlighted “the more dramatic gesture of spinning her ring” as one of her secret requests for help in his 2011 People interview. Should a nearby staffer pick up on the message, they could rush her on to the next conversation or to the exit.

Applying lipstick without using a mirror was a sign Elizabeth was over an event.

Queen Elizabeth II applies her lipstick during a visit to Fiji in February 1977.

Tim Graham/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

It’s technically a faux pas to touch up one’s makeup in public, as it could be considered unhygienic and rude to one’s company. Yet the stuffiest etiquette experts would surely make an exception for the queen of England. Per biographer Smith (quoted in The Telegraph), the practice was a habit for Elizabeth.

“When First Lady Laura Bush made a similar cosmetic fix during a Washington ladies’ luncheon, she cheerily commented, ‘The Queen told me it was all right to do it,’” the author wrote in Elizabeth the Queen.

Seems innocent enough—when she used her compact mirror. When she didn’t, the move became a secret signal, per one of the queen’s former staffers of eight years. Former royal footman Ian Scott Hunter spilled on the hidden meaning behind the makeup in a 2022 special episode of Antiques Roadshow.

“I believe there’s etiquette that ladies do not make their faces up in public,” he began, “but she [Elizabeth] had her bag over the side and she would take her lipstick out and put it on with no mirror or anything, and that was a signal to the ladies that she was ready to leave.”

She had a hidden buzzer to ask for an interruption during meetings at the palace.

Queen Elizabeth II sits at a desk in Buckingham Palace after recording her 2017 Christmas broadcast.

John Stillwell/PA Wire

The queen’s staffers couldn’t always be on hand to watch for her signals. When she had private meetings at Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth and her team had to coordinate a different way for her to invite an interruption. The solution? A ‘panic button’ of sorts, discreetly placed where Her Majesty could press it while leaving her guests unaware. Per People, the button “signals the staff outside to open the doors and escort the guest out.”

Kate Middleton may have her own handbag maneuvers.

Kate Middleton holding a black clutch bag in December 2025.

Toby Melville – Pool/Getty Images

While nothing’s been confirmed, royal watchers have speculated that Elizabeth’s granddaughter-in-law Kate Middleton has her own intentional moves involving her bag placement. The Princess of Wales regularly brings a clutch to events, and it may be more than a fashion choice.

“When the Duchess [now princess] is at an event, she holds her bag in front of her in both hands when shaking hands might be awkward,” etiquette expert Myka Meier told Good Housekeeping in 2017.

It turns out she’s not the only royal with a trick to avoid those moments when one doesn’t know what to do with their hands. Elizabeth’s late husband, Prince Philip, didn’t have the benefit of a handbag, but got creative nonetheless.

“The Duke of Edinburgh often walks with his hands behind his back,” etiquette coach William Hanson shared with the same outlet in 2017. “[N]ot only does this mean he stands up straight but also that he doesn’t leave them hanging awkwardly by his side, or place one or both of them in his pocket – something that can show arrogance,” he explained.