Former Aylesbury High School pupil who worked as a Royal Lady's Maid publishes her new book

Alicia Healey's new book 'Wardrobe Wisdom' is published on Thursday October 25.

Alicia, who worked as a Royal Lady's Maid at Buckingham Palace for four years talks about her time working for the royal family before going on to talk about her current work giving advice about wardrobe management and clothing care via social media and analysing royal fashion.

After graduating from St Andrews University with a degree in Art History, Alicia took a summer job working at the Queen’s home at Balmoral Castle.

She spent four years working for the Royal Household based at Buckingham Palace before travelling the world as a Lady’s Maid.

Although Alicia cannot talk in too much detail about her work as a Royal Lady's Maid due to confidentiality she did give an overview of what it entailed.

Alicia said: "I learned the traditional duties of a Lady’s Maid at Buckingham Palace for example professional packing, matching clothing with accessories, organising wardrobes and caring for clothing.

"When I travelled overseas, I was more of a PA/Lady’s Maid, so I would do duties like personal shopping and accompanying my employer on outings."

Alicia now runs a blog and Instagram page where she offers women fashion advice.

Additionally, Alicia provides comments on the outfits worn by female members of the royal family during tours and special occasions.

She said: "I have been very busy recently with Princess Eugenie's wedding and writing about the outfits worn for that and at the moment I've been writing about what the Duchess of Sussex has been wearing on her visit to Australia."

Alicia said she felt there was a growing trend towards 'modest fashion' among women.

She said: "In the UK over the past couple of years there has been a growing trend towards modest fashion among women, so you don’t see so many mini-skirts or low necklines, at least in women in their twenties and thirties.

"Among younger women and teenagers, I think there’s more of a problem with clothes being seen as “throwaway” because they are much more affordable than they used to be and new trends are coming out all the time, so people see them as something that can be worn a few times and then thrown out, rather than pieces that should be invested in and looked after.

"That's why I place a big emphasis on clothing care within the book and the importance of recycling clothing in an effort to make people more aware of the environmental and economic impact of throwing clothing away.

"The style advice I offer is focused mainly on occasion wear such as weddings and black tie events, but people also ask me about smart/casual wear too, as this is often difficult to get right."

Alicia's book 'Wardrobe Wisdom' is being published by National Trust Books on Thursday October 25 and it will be available online through Amazon and in all good bookshops.

Alicia's website can be accessed here: www.theladysmaid.com