PANTOMIMES - PRINCESSES ELIZABETH AND MARGARET Group of programmes, photographs and memorabilia relating to Royal pantomimes and concerts held at Windsor Castle during World War II, and performed by Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, comprising: i) Printed programme for Old Mother Red Riding Boots, signed by Princess Elizabeth ('Elizabeth') and Princess Margaret ('Margaret'), their nanny Marion Crawford, producer Hubert Tannar and other members of the cast and crew, in ink, some signatures ink over pencil, 4 pages on a bifolium, 8vo, Waterloo Chamber, Windsor Castle, 21 to 23 December 1944; with another unsigned copy; printed or typed programmes for Cinderella (19 December 1941, with envelope for ticket), Sleeping Beauty (11 December 1942, with printed ticket), and Aladdin (16 to 18 December 1943, with printed ticket), a concert to benefit The Wool Fund (13 July 1940, listing a piano duet by Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and their appearance in two sketches), and another for the Windsor Castle Players performance (30 May 1942); with three press photographs depicting the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in Old Mother Red Riding Boots, one captioned on reverse '...As Princess Elizabeth posed for this photograph she laughed and said 'This will look like a picture from the Family Album'...' gelatin silver prints, press stamps and extensive typed captions on reverse, 150 x 205mm., Christmas 1943 ii) Three letters signed ('Elizabeth R') to Cyril and Iris Woods, with manuscript salutations, the first facsimile letter of thanks for his good wishes on her 60th birthday, the second facsimile letter of thanks after the 'terrible fire at Windsor', with additional manuscript note thanking him '...for helping rescue things from the fire and I hope that memories of rooms in the past will be translated into reality before too long...', the third typed letter of thanks on her Golden Wedding Anniversary with additional manuscript line, with envelopes, 4 pages, two facsimile and one typed with manuscript insertions, 8vo, Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, May 1986 to December 1997; with two autograph letters of thanks from Princess Margaret signed ('Margaret'), with envelopes, 2 pages, 8vo, Clarence House and Kensington Palace, 28 November 1961 and 13 February 1968; and seven typed letters from private secretaries on behalf of the Queen and Princess Margaret, the majority concerning Cyril Wood's memoirs of performing with them in the Royal Pantomimes ('...Her Majesty has asked me to tell you that she though them quite delightful...'), 7 pages, 4to and smaller, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle, 18 February 1952 to 16 December 1993 iii) Seven notebooks containing scripts and stage directions for productions of 'The Sleeping Beauty' (December 1942, 1 volume, Act 1, Scene 1 only, ownership inscription of 'C. Woods' on front cover), 'Aladdin' (Christmas 1943, 5 volumes including Prompt), and 'Old Mother Red Riding Boots' (December 1944, 1 volume, 'No script for Act 1, Sc. 2 - as it is composed entirely of dancing & mime'), c.120 pages, typed scripts pasted into Berkshire County Council Education Committee notebooks, some amendments and notes on props, lighting and staging in pencil and ink, green paper covers, stapled, collection labels of T.C.M. O'Donovan, 4to (278 x 188mm.), 1942, 1943 and 1944; with folder containing photocopied typescript of Cyril Woods' memoirs of 'The Wartime Pantomimes in Windsor Castle', dated 1991, and various newspaper cuttings, photographs and other ephemera (collection) Footnotes: 'During the Second World War, Her Majesty the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and Princess Margaret spent much of their time in Windsor, safely away from the bombing in London. Between 1941 and 1944 they performed in and helped to stage a series of Christmas pantomimes to raise money for the Royal Household Wool Fund, which supplied knitting wool to make comforters for soldiers fighting at the Front...' (Royal Collection website). The productions, for which they also helped make the costumes, were performed with children from the local community for audiences of up to 600 people, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and various members of European Royalty who were by then living in Britain. The notebooks and letters in our collection (items ii and iii) were retained by Cyril Woods (1928-2001), the son of a motor mechanic on the Windsor Estate and a pupil at the Royal School, Windsor, whose pupils, under the aegis of headmaster Hubert Tannar, took part in the pantomimes. In his memoirs, a copy of which is included in the lot, Woods recounts various anecdotes from the rehearsals ('...Afterwards the whole cast was taken into one of the State Rooms where a delicious tea was laid out... The Princesses acted as hostesses...') and productions ('...The scenery was designed and made by Vincent Korda and F Bellan from the film studios... Sound effects were under the direction of Mr Wood from the BBC...'). At the age of fifteen, he was working as a junior clerk in the Comptroller of Supplies Office and continued to work in the Crown Estate Office for the rest of his life. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing