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Call the Midwife favourite joins cast for new project about Queen Elizabeth II and her royal dresser
By Royal Appointment is going on tour across the UK this autumn.
BBC/Neal Street Productions/Emma Barrott
- Olivia Garrett
Published: Tuesday, 8 September 2026 at 11:33 am
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Call the Midwife's Laura Main is joining the cast of a play about the life and power of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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By Royal Appointment follows the relationship between the Queen and her Dresser as they work together to create the monarch's public image in the later years of her life.
The synopsis reads: "The late Queen Elizabeth II was famous for her discretion. She never said anything in public that could ruffle the lightest of feathers. But she had one way of expressing what she really thought – through her wardrobe.
"By Royal Appointment is a funny, poignant and celebratory new play about the kind of power that only a Queen can wield – she charms the world through coats and admonishes her family through a carefully chosen hat.
By Royal Appointment.
"But the Queen herself is uninterested in fashion, her look is managed by her designer, her milliner and most powerful of all, her dresser, who was a working-class girl who goes from advising the Queen on the colour of her lipsticks to the real power behind the throne. But the dresser, like all royal favourites is living on borrowed time."
The show is the debut play from Daisy Goodwin, creator of hit ITV drama Victoria, and will tour venues across the UK from 24 September to 6 February. The show completed its first, short tour in summer 2025 starring Anne Reid as Queen Elizabeth II and Caroline Quentin as The Dresser.
Main, who is best known as Nurse Shelagh Turner on Call the Midwife, will be playing The Dresser, replacing Samantha Womack who recently withdrew from the role. On stage her credits include playing Princess Fiona in the second UK tour of Shrek The Musical and Jen in writer Chris Chibnall's 2024 play One Last Push.
Main joins Jane Asher as The Queen, David Robb as The Designer, Matthew Cottle as The Milliner and Laura Matthews as The Curator. The play is directed by Anthony Banks and designed by Jonathan Fensom, with lighting design by Richard Howell, sound design by Sarah Weltman and composition by Ben Ringham.
When and where is By Royal Appointment going on tour?
By Royal Appointment will kick off at the Arts Theatre Cambridge on 24 September running until 3 October before moving to Nottingham Theatre Royal (6–10 October), Chelmsford Theatre (20–24 October), York Theatre Royal (10–14 November), His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen (12–16 January 2027), Chichester Festival Theatre (19–23 January), Edinburgh Kings Theatre (26–30 January) and Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (2–6 February).
You can find tickets at the respective venue websites.
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For more recommendations check out the Theatre section or listen to our new podcast In the Interval. Plus, our Jesus Christ Superstar review and Beetlejuice review. We also have events like the best kids theatre shows and best West End shows.
Authors
Olivia Garrett
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