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Review: By Royal Appointment Stage Talk Magazine

Posted by admin on Jul 21, 2025

Nobody wore clothes like the late Queen. By Royal Appointment considers the meanings that lay behind all those dresses and hats. It begins in late 2022. The Queen has died and her devoted dresser (Caroline Quentin) is being asked by the curator (Gráinne Dromgoole) of a multi-media retrospective show to reveal what records she has kept of all the clothes and jewellery that the Queen wore on public occasions. Quentin vividly conveys the dresser’s combative character, fiercely protective of her past role as the Queen’s companion and confidante. Initially reluctant, she is persuaded to hand over her meticulously detailed records.

A series of short vignettes follows, starting in 1969 with the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and progressing then on through significant years in the Queen’s reign. Each is introduced by the curator with a whimsical precis of that year’s events, juxtaposing the serious with the banal. For example, we learn that 1979 featured both Jeremy Thorpe’s trial for conspiracy to murder and The Village People’s performance of YMCA on Top Of The Pops. Each scene focuses on a discussion between the Queen (Anne Reid), her dress designer (James Wilby) and her milliner (James Dreyfus – gloriously camp). Jonathan Fensom’s uncluttered set design, hinting at grandeur, allows space for back projections of photographs showing the real Queen wearing the relevant clothes.

Queen Elizabeth was famously reticent. We can be sure that she loved horses, corgis and Prince Philip, not necessarily in that order, but much else remains hidden. Writer Daisy Goodwin has centred on the idea that she had a silent mode of expression. Each dress colour, or piece of jewellery, carried a significant message. For example, the jade green dress she wore on her state visit to the Republic of Ireland was most certainly not a random choice, though we might suspect that it was one directed more by the Foreign Office than by the Queen herself.

Goodwin is a witty writer, and the play comes to life in the moments where the dresser, the designer and the milliner waspishly bicker. Based upon the real-life Scouser Angela Kelly, war hero Hardy Amies and Australian Freddie Fox, they fire off critical barbs while reluctantly recognising each rival’s expertise. Much of this is comic, but James Wilby is particularly impressive in a darker scene where he reflects bitterly upon his fraught relationship with his father, who never recognised his wartime bravery or accepted his homosexuality. Amies and Fox were both gay, and Goodwin writes in the programme notes that the Queen was often ‘presented to the world through a queer lens.’ An interesting thought, though not one that By Royal Appointment really explores in any depth.

As the Queen, Anne Reid looks the part, but wisely does not attempt an outright vocal impersonation. But other than presenting the Queen as a stoical believer in the virtue of a stiff upper lip she has little scope for revealing her as an interesting character. When faced with her milliner’s extreme distress at his partner’s death from AIDS her bland response is, ‘Whatever it is, will pass.’ Goodwin has shied away from any suggestion that there might have been much more to the Queen than met the eye, or that she might have had any interesting flaws. She remains a blank canvas.

Both the gentle humour that pervades most of the writing and the bite-size nature of the scenes make By Royal Appointment an undemanding, cheerfully royalist piece of entertainment that in no way challenges the assumptions that lie behind the institution that it portrays.

★★★☆☆ Mike Whitton

Source: Stage talk Magazine / Reviewer: Mike Whitton / Photo credit: Nobby Clark

By Royal Appointment theatre

Review: By Royal Appointment – Bath Magazine

Posted by admin on Jul 21, 2025

Modern theatre doesn’t always need to blaze a trail, challenge audiences and/or shake us up in order to create impact. In skilfully avoiding the whole trailblazing/challenging/shake-up thing, acclaimed English novelist, TV producer and screenwriter Daisy Goodwin’s debut stage play — enjoying its world premiere here in Bath — proves that point in fine, regal style.

Set in the inner sanctum of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Buckingham Palace suite, By Royal Appointment offers an intimate insight into the late Queen’s life outside of the public gaze, opening her wardrobe (literally!) to the whens, whys and wherefores of the outfits she wore for various occasions from the 1960s until her death in 2022 and turning the spotlight on the close relationship forged between her and her dresser: a largely invisible force to be reckoned with, and possibly the most influential courtier of the late Queen’s court.

Just as The Queen’s actual long-term dress designer Hardy Amies isn’t actually called Hardy Amies here and her milliner isn’t called Freddie Fox either (they’re simply billed as The Designer and The Milliner respectively), the Queen’s Dresser is simply billed as just that too. But many of know who she is: Liverpool-born Angela Kelly (official title: Personal Assistant, Adviser and Curator to Her Majesty The Queen, Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe) who, for almost 30 years, oversaw every detail of everything The Queen wore and, in the Queen’s latter years, rustled up those creations herself.

Punctuating a narrative relayed through a series of vignettes that whistle-stop us from the 1960s to The Queen’s final engagement welcoming the then Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss to her Balmoral estate (and no, she didn’t wear cabbage yellow), Gráinne Dromgoole — as the curator of a forthcoming multi-media exhibition of the Queen’s clothes that we learn will be produced “ABBA Voyage style”, doubling-up as the play’s narrator — gives context to the relevance of the Queen’s wardrobe choices in the spotlight here.

Who was in power when she dazzled in daffodil yellow for the very first time? Which Wham! single topped the charts when she rocked the bubblegum pink coat? How much had the price of milk risen to in the UK when she wore orange silk chiffon for a state visit to Bahrain? And could she ever upstage her infamous sister-in-law Mrs Simpson? Oh, you betcha!

We learn that none of the wardrobe choices Her Madge made were random, nor — perish the thought! — selected to make fashion statements; moreover, maximum visibility (to cameras; to crowds), comfort and tradition were always, always key, from style of hat to choice of footwear with length of hem falling in between the two… and, of course, always including that all-important handbag.

The gentle drama (although, it has to be said, there isn’t much ‘drama’ here; Goodwin’s smooth-flowing, gorgeously naturalistic script is more Alan Bennett’s Uncommon Reader than Peter Morgan’s Crown) moves along at a restrained pace with only discreet projections of the selected outfits featured fleetingly intruding on designer Jonathan Fensom’s simple, unadorned reconstruction of the calm sanctity of one of the most private enclaves within Buckingham Palace.

Without attempting an outright impersonation of the world’s most recognisable monarch to date, Anne Reid (yes, the Anne Reid – theatre royalty herself) is a wonderful Queen, channelling as much as we’ll ever know about Ma’am’s countenance and character into a smooth aggregation of her most familiar characteristics: serene and inscrutable, stoic under pressure, logical, knowing and subtly witty.

Frank, feisty, fiercely protective of her boss and initially reluctant to hand over her meticulously detailed records of every outfit The Queen ever wore under her watchful eye, Caroline Quentin wins our hearts and minds as the monarch’s long-term Dresser, companion, confidante and anchor.

As The Designer and The Milliner respectively, James Wilby and James Dreyfus bounce off each other as they waltz through and around power struggles and petty jealousies, ricocheting high camp snarks at quickfire speed but ultimately guiding each other through the complicated maze of the etiquette and conventions that dictate to the protocol of their roles with as much flamboyant chutzpah as they’re allowed to muster; read between their lines, and you’ll learn more about Queen Elizabeth II than Netflix ever told you.

Poignant, thoughtful and elegantly clever, By Royal Appointment gently builds up to being a memorable, moving work of modern theatre art, charming in a totally uncondescending way… and refreshingly free of any attempts to trailblaze, challenge or shake us up. This is an appointment that you really need to keep.

Source: The Bath Magazine / Reviewer: Melissa Blease / Photo credit: Nobby Clark

By Royal Appointment theatre

By Royal Appointment’ at Malvern Theatres provides unique perspective on Queen Elizabeth II’s reign

Posted by admin on Jul 21, 2025

Daisy Goodwin’s new play ‘By Royal Appointment’ – which opened last night at Malvern – is neither a biting satire nor does it set its stall to be a platform for conspiracy theory. Rather it is a charming, chronological collage of vignettes, based on real events and people woven into a timeline which triggers memories – particularly for my ‘baby boomer’ generation.
Although it is set entirely in the intimacy of the royal dressing room, what goes on there between Queen Elizabeth II and her personal trio of majestic attire creators has repercussions that resonate with international importance.

The trio consist of a fulfilling performance by Caroline Quentin as ‘The Dresser’ – a loyal confidante who guards her royal relationship with a passion bordering on obsession. She also harbours more than a whiff of jealousy towards the other two, which shows itself through numerous waspish comments and occasional minor sabotage. James Dreyfuss is spot on the money as the ostentatious ‘Milliner’ who loves to seize the theatricality of the moment (any moment). Hot to trot too is James Wilby as the ‘Designer ‘with an uncanny talent for matching colours and styles to moods and designs along with a generous dollop of obsequiousness.

he tour-de-force that is Anne Reid literally becomes her late Majesty the Queen for the entire performance Every move, pause, line, expression was joyous. It was a privilege indeed to be in the presence of theatrical royalty.

Designer Jonathon Fensom brings the unseen rooms at the Queen’s homes onto the stage without losing any of the intimacy and Dominic Dromgoole directs with warm and gentle brush strokes.

Another Dromgoole, namely Grainne, completes the company as the Curator and our ‘what’s going on’ outside the room narrator.

The costumes are sumptuous as was the overall mood. In truth, Act One needs a couple of ‘moments’ and could do with some trimming, but Act Two is seamless. This is of course a new play and I’m sure the talented Goodwin will revise it a few times before it undoubtedly starts a long and successful West End run.

Interestingly, we saw the play with our son and his fiancée who are visiting from their home in Australia who were less engaged than us and so I expect the audiences will be more national than international.

Nothing amiss with that – though those of us who have lived most of our lives under her reign, ‘By Royal Appointment’ provided a unique and interesting perspective on the life of our late Queen.

Thank you, Ma’am, for your service and Anne Reid for sharing.

The show runs until Saturday (July 5). Click here for times, tickets and more information.

Source: malvernobserver Review: Euan Rose

By Royal Appointment theatre

The late Queen’s wardrobe – and what she said through her clothes…interview

Posted by admin on Jul 8, 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.

And that’s the premise for By Royal Appointment (Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, July 9-12; and also (Richmond Theatre London, July 22-26), Guildford Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, July 29-August 2), 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.

Anne Reid plays The Queen, Caroline Quentin is The Dresser, with Olivier award-winning James Dreyfus as The Milliner and James Wilby as The Designer in a new play written by Daisy Goodwin and directed by former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, Dominic Dromgoole.

James Wilby said: “It’s a very clever way of discussing the Queen by allowing yourself a fictitious look at what might have been said. It is a very warm portrait of the Queen. We have this extraordinary love for the Queen because she was the only monarch that until recently any of us probably had ever known. When she died, it was a massive, massive thing for the nation. Anne Reid doesn’t attempt to impersonate her in any way. She just is her. She is remarkable. She is 90 and she captures the Queen’s dryness and her wit and above all her warmth. She is warm and human and very down to earth and there’s a lot of people that will recognise her, along with her great sense of humour.

“And this is about her clothes. The main characters are the Queen herself and her dresser who is an amalgamation of various characters and also her designer is also based on the number of characters but mainly Hardy Amies who was a war hero and a very clever designer. There is also a milliner who is another character who is an amalgamation of various characters. The whole thing allows the writer to explore conversations that might have happened, and the play becomes very moving in the second half.

“I think there’s been long enough now to accept a new monarch and the last Queen did live to quite an extraordinary age, but this play doesn’t say anything that is in any way out of keeping. I would not have done it at all otherwise. There is not a moment of bad taste.

“I play the designer. He is gay. He is a man that has hidden that all his life. He is very discreet. He’s very good at his job and he has a great sense of self and purpose but he had a father who loathed him. He is quite a complex character.”

James admits that you can sigh inwardly when you get in the car to drive a long way to the next theatre on the tour but he is loving it: “I became an actor because I love the theatre not because I loved film or TV but I pretty quickly realised that if I wanted to make a living out of it then I had to do a lot more film and TV than I did theatre. But the theatre is an incredible discipline. It is an absolute discipline. You can explore the character during rehearsals whereas on film and TV you have to produce the character pretty much straight away but with this it can develop.”

And the fascination is that the play will be quite different by the time it reaches the end of the tour: “You learn where the audience are rapt and where they are not. You learn where the laughs are and you learn not tread on the laughs. You have to make sure they happen. Proper laughter in the theatre is so important. It allows breathing space for you and for the audience, and the piece grows. There’s something wonderfully raw about the beginning of a tour which makes it so worth going to but then by the end of the tour there is something so profoundly polished that again it’s so worth going to. But it is such a big thing. When I am on tour, my entire day is based around the fact that I’m going to walk on stage at 7:30 that evening.”

Source: Sussex World / Phil Hewitt

By Royal Appointment theatre