THE QUEEN'S NANNY

 

The Queen’s Nanny by Melanie Tait.

Directed by Priscilla Jackman. Assistant director Miranda Middleton Set Designer – Michael Hankin Costume Designer – Genevieve Graham Lighting Designer – Morgan Moroney Composer & Sound Designer – James Peter Brown  Dialect & Voice Coach – Jennifer White  Movement Coach – Tim Dashwood Stage Manager – Sean Proude Assistant Stage Manager – Madelaine Osborn Costumer Supervisor – Lily Mateljan  Cast Matthew Backer as J and all other characters Briallen Clarke as Marion Sharon Millerchip as Elizabeth. Ensemble Theatre.The Playhouse. Canberra Theatre Centre. June 19-21 2025. Bookings 62752700

 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Sharon Millerchip as the Queen Mother, Briallen Clarke 
as Marion Crawford. Matthew Backer as J in The Queen's Nanny

 

It would not be too far-fetched to regard the story of Marion Crawford as the tragedy of a common woman. Crawford, or Crawfie as she was affectionately known by royalty and the palace staff was the Royal Governess to Lilibet, the future Queen Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret from 1933 to 1949. In 1949 after seventeen years of loyal and dedicated service to the crown, Crawfie was given a pension and rooms with her husband George Buckley in Kensington Palace.

Briallen Clarke is Marion Crawford

Her offense was not against the Gods but against the Royal Family when, on an editor’s request she wrote articles for a woman’s magazine, revealing insights into the life of the royal family, ironically in the first instance with the agreement of the Queen Mother. An American publisher offered her $85,000 to write a book,The Little Princesses, which became a best seller and  roused the ire of the Queen Mother, who saw this as a complete betrayal of confidence and trust. Crawfie, who retired on the money with her husband to Aberdeen became a vilified outcast, never to have contact with the Royals again. An intelligent, educated woman and loyal servant to the crown and the princesses in her charge died alone in 1988.

Sharon Millerchip is the Queen Mother

 

Playwright, Melanie Tait has succinctly and empathetically told Crawfie’s story in a ninety minute drama that spans the euphoria of her status to the domestic and financial struggles, once out of service and the consequences of her actions to resolve the struggles by accepting the book offer. Using only three actors to tell her story, Tait has constructed a roller coaster of emotional responses. What begins as a warm-hearted glimpse into Crawfie’s early engagement and her relationship with the Queen Mother and her penchant for Dubonnet darkens with the onset of war and erupts with tragic overtones as Tait unravels the personal consequences of Crawfie’s innocent actions. Tait tells the story through the drama without judgement. It is left to the audience to judge the character of Sharon Millerchip’s steely and superior Queen Mother or Briallen Clarke’s progressive, devoted and finally ostracized Marion. Matthew Backer with chameleon agility sketches distinctly crafted characters such as J, the Aussie journalist ,Ainslie the Butler, the American Editor, George Buckley, Princess Elizabeth and the narrator of the drama. All three actors have been brilliantly cast and Priscilla Jackman’s direction keeps the audience glued to the performance from the light-hearted opening to the sorrowful conclusion to this woeful saga of Britain’s first royal commentator.

Matthew Backer as Lilibet. Briallen Clarke as Crawfie

In an era when tabloid revelations are de rigeur and newsstands are filled with preposterous articles about members of the Royal family, Crawfie’s insight into the habits and lives of the Royal Family at the time may appear innocuous. Because of the Queen Mother’s later insistence on signed non-disclosure statements by all appointed staff members, there can be no insider exposés, and we are left at the end of The Queen’s Nanny with the question, “Was Marion Crawford the victim of deception and injustice?”

Is naivety and the grasp of opportunity her fatal flaw? Whether a Monarchist or a Republican, Ensemble’s skilfully staged production will provoke response as much about Crawford’s story as about the role and the responsibility of the media in reporting on the lives of celebrities. It is still very much a story for our time. Don’t miss it.