A Royal Night Out

A film that takes place in London over a single night. 8 May 1945. The end of the war in Europe is declared and the city pours into the streets. At the palace two young princesses ask permission to go out. Their mother refuses, their father agrees: a few hours, two officers with them and a fixed itinerary. The itinerary breaks down in the first half hour. Her sister is lost in the crowd and Elizabeth starts looking for her. She goes across the city through the night: buses, bars, a gambling club and finally a service hostel. An airman she meets on the way goes with her; he does not know who she is and says exactly what he thinks about the war. What the film is interested in is that meeting: a young woman raised in a palace hears directly, for the first time, what people have been through. The narrative sets out from a real event; it is known that the two princesses went into the crowd that night. Most of what happens in the film is invention. Sarah Gadon plays Elizabeth, Bel Powley plays Margaret and Emily Watson the mother. Julian Jarrold directed. A pleasant choice for anyone who likes period films and light narratives. For a viewer expecting historical accuracy, the film rewrites the night entirely.