by Daisy Goodwin
Daniel Schumann / Lee Dean / Cambridge Arts September 2026 – February 2027
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 clothes.
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 – a working-class girl who goes from advising the Queen on the colour of her lipsticks to the real power behind the throne.
Cast Jane Asher, Matthew Cottle, Jeremy Drakes, Niamh Finlay, David Robb, Fiona Tong, Samantha Womack
Design Jonathan Fensom
Lighting Richard Howell
Music and Sound Ben and Max Ringham
Dialect Charmian Hoare