The three conversational positions of the bag give her staff direction as to who she'd like to talk to, and for how long, but it serves one extra purpose. Inside her bag is a purse. At a formal dinner, when events are drawing on for longer than the Queen's liking, she'll reach inside the bag, grab her purse, and place it on the table.
If the purse is on the table, the Queen has had enough, and wants the event to end in five minutes time. Her private staff are responsible for keeping an eye out for these signals at all times, and five minutes gives them long enough to commence wrapping-up proceedings without appearing rude or abrupt to Her Majesty's guests. It also allows the Queen to escape from long social engagements without giving away the fact that she's grown tired of her guests.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.