A Royal Night Out

May 8th, 1945 – V.E. Day… a nation celebrates the victorious end to a long and costly war. Cloistered away in Buckingham Palace two princesses peer out longingly at the adoring crowd who ready themselves for the biggest party London has ever seen. Princess Elizabeth and her headstrong 15-year-old sister, Margaret, would give anything to join them…

Finally the King and Queen relent – the girls can go out, but two Royal Guardsmen will accompany them and they are to be home by midnight.

Excited and full of trepidation, the two princesses set forth, incognito. For Elizabeth it seems like a wonderful dream – one night where no one knows who she is. But, arriving at the Ritz Hotel she discovers her Mother has laid a trap. A formal reception, full of curtseys and polite conversation, awaits them.

Margaret takes her opportunity to escape, whisked away by a group of partying naval lieutenants, leaving Elizabeth to decide whether to chase after her fun-loving sister, raise the alarm, or fulfill her duties at the Ritz…. She takes a deep breath and disappears into the crowds to start the search.

Daunted by the city and its exuberant revelers, Elizabeth is anxious and vulnerable. Until she falls, quite literally, into the arms of a young airman, Jack. Over the course of the night this unlikely couple, the princess and the squaddie, stumble their way around the West End, searching for Margaret and opening each other’s eyes to their polar worlds. Both are disillusioned in their own way, unsure of what the post-war future holds, and both are carrying a secret – Jack is ignorant to Elizabeth’s true identity, and Elizabeth has no idea Jack has gone AWOL from the military.

As they journey from Trafalgar Square, via the Mall, to the dark heart of Soho, in search of Margaret, Elizabeth finds herself immersed in a London that is more complex than she had ever imagined. She experiences friendship, kindness, danger, and the flutterings of first love in this fairytale adventure.

By the time she and Margaret are back in the Palace, Elizabeth has changed forever. Their one night of freedom gives her courage to face her responsibilities… One night of magic that could all have been a dream…