Curtain up for Queen's pantomime costumes at Windsor Castle

Pantomime costumes worn by the Queen and her sister Princess Margaret as teenagers are to go on display for the first time.

The outfits were worn by the princesses in an Old Mother Red Riding Boots pantomime in December 1944.

The royal siblings acted alongside children from the Windsor Castle community and the Royal Windsor School in the production at Windsor Castle.

The costumes go on display at the castle from 25 November to 31 January.

Among the outfits on show is a long-sleeved pink satin and lace dress worn by Princess Elizabeth wore to play Lady Christina Sherwood and a chintz shirt, trousers and sunhat for a seaside scene.

It also features Princess Margaret's blue taffeta dress with cream lace bloomers worn to play The Honourable Lucinda Fairfax.

The specially created show combined elements of a number of different pantomimes and fairytales.

It was performed three times - for each performance tickets were made available for audiences of between 300 and 600 people.

The princesses' parents, King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth, joined other members of the royal family to attend each pantomime.

During World War Two, between 1941 and 1944 the royal siblings performed in and helped to stage a series of Christmas pantomimes.

Money raised from the shows was donated to the Royal Household Wool Fund, which supplied knitting wool to make comforters for soldiers fighting at the Front.

The costumes will be displayed in the Waterloo Chamber of the castle where the pantomimes were originally performed 80 years ago.

Also on show will be the 16 large-scale and colourful pictures of fairy tale characters which were pasted around the walls to decorate the space at the time.

The costumes will be shown alongside the outfits the princesses wore for their war-time Aladdin pantomime, which have been shown previously.

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