It's a lesser-known fact that when they were evacuated from Buckingham Palace during WW2 and stayed at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, the Royal Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret loved nothing better than to organise an annual pantomime with children from the Royal School, produced by the school's headmaster Hubert Tannar!
Her love for dressing-up parties and mischief continued well into adulthood, it seems...
Twice a year, the Queen wore evening gown and tiara to judge the staff fancy dress party at Balmoral Castle.On one occasion, the Queen's dressers asked if they could don their fancy dress before helping her. She walked down to dinner, telling her guests: "I've just been dressed by Queen Victoria... and, I believe, Cheryl Cole!"
Bless her.
[click any pic to embiggen]
It does make one wonder what she might have become had Edward remained king.
ReplyDeleteAssuming Edward VIII to have lived up to his rumoured reputation as, if not a supporter of, a panderer to Hitler, I would imagine either a) the monarchy would have been tarnished beyond belief and abolished by the Attlee government, or b) she would still have been Queen (as the closest heir; Wallis not being of child-bearing age). It's a weird thought for a parallel universe... Jx
DeleteI can imagine the staff fancy dress party at Balmoral Castle being something akin to Drag competition.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine a helluva lot of the Royal household being something akin to a drag show - remember the dear ol' Queen Mum's comment to her butlers: "When you two old Queens have finished arguing, this Old Queen wants her Gin!" Jx
Delete