Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's wild night out was a key part of the eighth episode of The Crown, Ritz.
Season 6 part 2 of The Crown launched on December 14th, 2023, and fans have been gripped by the new series. While some are wondering, who did Kate and William date before each other, where was The Crown filmed, and did The Queen really consider stepping down? Others want to know how factual the episode titled Ritz was, in particular, did the Queen and Princess Margaret sneak out of the palace for a night out on VE day?
Did Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret have a wild incognito night out?
The truth is that The Crown got it right! The Queen - who was known as Princess Elizabeth back then - and her sister, Princess Margaret, celebrated Victory Day in the streets of London and partied at the Ritz to mark the end of the Second World War.
Of course, The Crown writers can't know exactly who the Princesses danced with or what they said at the time, but there are some fun facts that are known about that famous night out...
In 1985 Her Majesty spoke to the BBC about joining London street celebrations for VE Day in May 1945. "We cheered the king and the queen on the balcony and then walked miles through the streets. I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief," she said. "I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life."
In reality, the night out wasn't a small event and there were around 16 people that joined the two royals. Per Tatler The late Queen told the BBC, "We were terrified of being recognised – so I pulled my uniform cap well down over my eyes. A Grenadier officer among our party of about 16 people said he refused to be seen in the company of another officer improperly dressed. So I had to put my cap on normally."
Channel 4 interviewed the Queen’s cousin, The Hon Margaret Rhodes, for a documentary in 2015, and she spoke about this night.
"We crossed the forecourt at Buckingham Palace and got to the railings and there were these masses and masses of people. There was a general thing of, 'We want the King and Queen', which we all frantically joined in with and were amazed when, five or 10 minutes later, the windows opened and they came out onto the balcony. It was like a wonderful escape for the girls. I don't think they’d ever been out among millions of people. It was just freedom – to be an ordinary person," she said
The night wasn't exactly forbidden, and the 19-year-old Elizabeth and 14-year-old Margaret even got a message to their parents that they would be outside Buckingham Palace, ready to wave to them at a certain point in the evening. The Queen told the BBC, "We were successful in seeing my parents on the balcony, having cheated slightly by sending a message into the house, to say we were waiting outside."
However, The Queen's cousin Margaret revealed in the Channel 4 documentary that they did in fact go to The Ritz during this celebration - which was a key part of the Netflix series. It was around this area that things got slightly more debaucherous!
"For some reason, we decided to go in the front door of the Ritz and do the conga. The Ritz has always been so stuffy and formal – we rather electrified the stuffy individuals inside. I don’t think people realised who was among the party – I think they thought it was just a group of drunk young people. I remember old ladies looking faintly shocked. As one congaed through, eyebrows were raised," said Margaret Rhodes.
Jean Woodroffe, the second lady-in-waiting appointed to serve Princess Elizabeth in 1945 also spoke fondly about the evening, revealing that the Princesses may have witnessed some rather raunchy scenes. "There were places like Green Park and St James’s which one would never have walked through at night in the war – and there we were. There was the usual thing of people kissing and hugging – and even making love. I was shocked by it – I hadn’t experienced that sort of thing happening before in public," she told Channel 4.
So it seems that The Crown got it relatively spot on, the girls had a fun night on the town where they managed to keep a low profile amongst all the festivities as the entire country celebrated the end of the war.
