By Royal Appointment – the debut play of Daisy Goodwin, creator of hit ITV historical drama Victoria – tours to Mayflower Theatre from Wednesday 9 to Saturday 12 July 2025.
The late Queen Elizabeth II was famous for her discretion. She never said anything in public that could ruffle the lightest of feathers. But she had one way of expressing what she really thought – through her wardrobe.
By Royal Appointment is a funny, poignant and celebratory new play about the kind of power that only a Queen can wield – she charms the world through coats and admonishes her family through a carefully chosen hat. But the Queen herself is uninterested in fashion, her look is managed by her Designer, her Milliner and most powerful of all, her Dresser who was a working-class girl who goes from advising the Queen on the colour of her lipsticks to the real power behind the throne. But the Dresser, like all royal favourites is living on borrowed time.
By Royal Appointment is a behind the scenes peek into the world of our most popular monarch and the image she presented to the world.
Starring national treasure Anne Reid CBE as The Queen, and star of stage and screen Caroline Quentin as The Dresser., with Olivier award-winning James Dreyfus as The Milliner and Merchant Ivory and Poldark legend James Wilby as The Designer. The play is written by Daisy Goodwin who created the hit ITV series Victoria, and directed by former Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe, Dominic Dromgoole.
Tickets for By Royal Appointment (Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 July 2025) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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