So... What the *beep* is up with that angel?

For me, the Angel represented enlightenment, the unity to which the human race (and Orlando) is evolving... and in that unity, the androginity of identity. The Angel is the Atman, the universality of consciousness, that translogical reality of you and I (and everyone and everything) being in essence the same consciousness expressed in different time/space coordinates, with differing genetics and/or environments. You could say that the Angel represented humankind's highest Self, or even the highest Self of Existence or God.

My thoughts:
Much of the 2nd half of the movie mirrors the 1st. Earlier in the movie, that singer was Queen Elizabeth's herald.

At the end of the story, Orlando's propped against the same tree where she began. She's learned and developed greatly since then, and has finally completed her mission. As she finally "gets" life and begins to look towards the future, the Queen's angel appears to herald the good news.

What happens after that is irrelevant; the story is about the journey.
You know, kind of like the first Matrix.

Nothing so confounding by exaggerated exclamation; I merely saw it as a cheeky nod to Derek Jarman, possibly even Julien Temple. Just as other aspects of the film triggered comparisons to other venerated Brit auteurs Ken Russell, and definitely Sally Potter's "mentor" Peter Greenaway.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE WHO PUNISH BAD CINEMA!!! 