Author Daisy Goodwin’s new play, By Royal Appointment, opens this week in Bath with a close look at a special royal relationship. 

Goodwin’s stage play, By Royal Appointment, is a new play exploring the close relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and her friend and dresser, Angela Kelly. 

Running at the Theatre Royal Bath from 5 to 14 June, the show looks at possible moments between the late Queen and her trusted dresser. Given that Elizabeth was unable to make many public statements, her fashion was more important than many realise.

The cast includes Anne Read as The Queen and Caoline Quentin as The Dresser. They are joined by James Dreyfus who plays both The Milliner and Merchant Ivory, and James Wilby as The Designer. 

After the play’s run is finished in Bath, it will be touring to several cities this summer, including Cheltenham, Leeds, Southampton, and London. 

Goodwin is no stranger to writing about royal lives. She is the creator behind the ITV show Victoria, a three series show that explored Queen Victoria’s and Prince Albert’s early marriage, as well as a companion novel of the same name. She also penned a novel, The Fortune Hunter, about Empress Sisi of Austria.