The Queen. Who embodies an aura of composed dignity and unapproachable aristocracy more than her? Yet even Elisabeth from the Windsors was once young: all of London celebrated on the 8th of May 1945. Princesses Elisabeth and Margaret wrest from their parents and stay up late, party, and do the lindy hop – after all, you don’t win a world war every day. It’s a shame, though, that the princesses find themselves on different busses at a certain point and that London is totally out of control.

It has been historically proven that Elisabeth and Margaret were not celebrating at Buckingham Palace on V-Day. The fact that the story is true makes it all the more fascinating. However, we don’t know exactly what happened, which is why director Julian Jarrold expanded on the idea with a bit of fantasy. These ideas developed into a nice romance between the incognito heir apparent and a dishonorably discharged worker Jack which gets ignited as they search for Margaret and are followed by the military police. The film knows how outrageous this all seems and these implausible turn of events play out in a subtly ironic manner. The absurd situations unfold in a wonderfully light way that counter the image of the reserved, benevolent Queen.

Harald Mühlbeyer

Translation: Elinor Lewy