Increasingly distant, keeping company no longer with queen (5)
I believe the answer is:
icier
'increasingly distant' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'company no longer with queen' is the wordplay.
'company no longer' becomes 'ICI' (Imperial Chemical Industries, former company).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'queen' becomes 'ER' (short for Elizabeth Regina ie Queen Elizabeth).
'ici'+'er'='ICIER'
'keeping' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for icier that I've seen before include "More cold or frozen" , "With more hostility" , "increasingly frigid" , "much less friendly" , "Colder even than 31 Across" .)