{"id":41832,"date":"2023-12-14T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T08:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1941238"},"modified":"2023-12-14T10:21:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T09:21:45","slug":"did-queen-elizabeth-and-margaret-really-sneak-out-on-ve-day","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/did-queen-elizabeth-and-margaret-really-sneak-out-on-ve-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Queen Elizabeth and Margaret really sneak out on VE day?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Elizabeth and Margaret are seen heading to The Ritz with Porchey and Peter Townsend on VE Day, during flashbacks in The Crown season 6 episode 8. <\/p>

By James Hibbs\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 14 December 2023 at 08:00 AM<\/p>

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The final part of The Crown<\/a> is now available to stream on Netflix<\/a>, charting the period between 1997 and 2005, including the meeting of William and Kate<\/a> and the marriage of Charles and Camilla<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The eighth episode in the season also dramatises the decline and death of Princess Margaret<\/a>, examining her relationship with Elizabeth through the use of flashbacks to a formative moment in their lives.<\/p>\n

This is the night of VE Day, when the pair sneak out of the Palace and head to The Ritz, with Margaret saying that this proved how much Elizabeth had sacrificed by taking on her life of duty. But did the pair really sneak out that night?<\/p>\n

Read on for everything you need to know about the flashbacks to VE Day in The Crown<\/a> season 6.<\/p>\n

What happens in The Crown season 6 episode 8?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Lesley\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret in The Crown.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The Crown season 6 episode 8, titled Ritz, tells the story of the decline and death of Princess Margaret, while also flashing back to tell the story of a formative moment for the pair in 1945.<\/p>\n

The flashbacks take place on 8th May 1945, VE Day, when the\u00a0Allies accepted\u00a0Germany\u2019s unconditional surrender in the Second World War.<\/p>\n

In the flashback sequences, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret leave the Palace, accompanied by a young Porchey and Peter Townsend, and head to The Ritz, where they join those partying and celebrating.<\/p>\n

Once there, Elizabeth follows a man and heads to the downstairs dance hall, where she dances merrily. On the way back to the Palace in the morning, Elizabeth admits that she kissed a man so as not to be \u201crude\u201d and was still chewing his gum.<\/p>\n

Did Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret really sneak out on VE Day?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Imelda\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown<\/span><\/figcaption> Justin Downing\/Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

In truth, Elizabeth and Margaret did join the crowds and go to The Ritz on VE Day, when the former was 19 and the latter just 14.<\/p>\n

They were given permission by the King and Queen<\/a> to do so, with the King explaining his decision to let them go in a diary entry: \u201cPoor darlings, they have never had any fun yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than just going with Porchey and Peter Townsend, it is understood that they travelled with a group of 16<\/a> trusted members of the Royal household.<\/p>\n

One of the Queen\u2019s first ladies in waiting, Jean Woodroffe, told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today Programme in 2006: \u201cThe extraordinary thing was that nobody seemed to take much notice. Then we stood outside Buckingham Palace with the crowd and we all shouted, \u2018We want the King\u2019 with everybody else until the King and Queen came out onto the balcony.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Queen herself told the BBC in 1985 that she \u201cpulled my uniform cap well down over my eyes\u201d to avoid being noticed.<\/p>\n

Margaret Rhodes, first cousin to the Queen who was part of the group, revealed that they went to The Ritz at around 11:30pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason, we decided to go in the front door of the Ritz and do the conga,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Ritz has always been so stuffy and formal \u2013 we rather electrified the stuffy individuals inside. I don\u2019t think people realised who was among the party \u2013 I think they thought it was just a group of drunk young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember old ladies looking faintly shocked. As one congaed through, eyebrows were raised.\u201d<\/p>

Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret ended up in the Royal Parks on their way back to the palace. Jean Woodroffe said that they travelled back through Green Park and St James\u2019s Park, where there was \u201cthe usual thing of people kissing and hugging \u2013 and even making love\u201d.<\/p>\n

Woodroffe said: \u201cI was shocked by it \u2013 I hadn\u2019t experienced that sort of thing happening before in public.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for whether Elizabeth really kissed someone that night, that seems to have been an invention of the writers, although of course we may never know for certain.<\/p>\n

The events of that night were dramatised previously in the 2015 film\u00a0A Royal Night Out, starring Sarah Gadon and Bel Powley.<\/p>