Rare Photos Show Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret as the Teenage Stars in Private Royal Pantomimes in the 1940s

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These photographs were taken between December 1941 and 1944 and show a teenaged Queen and her sister, Princess Margaret, playing various pantomime roles in front of a very privileged audience at Windsor Castle. The performances included Cinderella, Aladdin, and Sleeping Beauty.

A pantomime, or “panto” as it is also known≤ is a mixture of slapstick and music performed across Britain during the holiday season. They are typically based on children’s stories and usually feature male leads played by women (and vice versa), comedic twists and audience participation.

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the current queen’s mother, spent most of their time in London while their daughters remained in Windsor, just outside the capital.

But at Christmas they would return to join a privileged audience at the luxury pantomimes their daughters starred in at the Royal School.

In 1941 Elizabeth, then 15, played Prince Florizel, the male lead, in a pantomime of Cinderella, while 11-year-old Margaret took the title role. The following year the future queen starred as Prince Salvador in Sleeping Beauty with Margaret as Fairy Thistledown.

In 1943 Elizabeth won her first title role in Aladdin with Margaret as Princess Roxana. The next year the royal sisters starred as Lady Christina Sherwood and the Honorable Lucinda Fairfax, respectively, in Old Mother Red Riding Boots.

According to CNN, these fascinating images are owned by the estates of Hubert Tannar, an amateur actor and headmaster of the school the princesses attended, and Cyril Woods, who shared the stage with the young Windsors and became a friend of the future queen during rehearsals.

A very young Princess Elizabeth (left) and Princess Margaret (right) in these two portrait pictures from the play Cinderella, in 1941, at the Royal School, Windsor.

A young Princess Elizabeth (left) stars in the play Cinderella in 1941 at the Royal School, Windsor.

Princess Margaret (left) and Princess Elizabeth (right) perform in Cinderella in 1941 at the Royal School, Windsor.

Princess Margaret (left) and Princess Elizabeth (right) with the Queen Mother on the set of the play Cinderella, in 1941.

Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth (left) in the play Cinderella, 1941, at the Royal School, Windsor.

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