Jane Asher and Samantha Womack to star in Daisy Goodwin’s By Royal Appointment at York Theatre Royal

This November (10-14), By Royal Appointment – the debut play of Daisy Goodwin, creator of hit ITV historical drama Victoria – comes to York Theatre Royal’s Main House stage. Jane Asher and Samantha Womack will star as The Queen (Asher) and her Dresser (Womack).

The play explores their relationship and how the pair created the public image of the world’s longest reigning monarch. They will be joined by David Robb as The Designer and Matthew Cottle as The Milliner.

Directed by Anthony Banks, the show is a co-production from Daniel Schumann, Lee Dean, and The Arts Theatre Cambridge, with design by Jonathan Fensom. There will be a special post-show discussion after the performance on Thu 12 Nov at 7.30pm with members of the cast.

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. 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.

By Royal Appointment is a behind the scenes peek into the world of our most popular monarch and the image she presented to the world.

By Royal Appointment was Daisy Goodwin’s debut play. Her most recent production of Victoria: A Queen Unbound was produced at Watermill Theatre in April 2026. For television, her writing credits include ITV historical drama series Victoria. Her novels include The Last Duchess, The Fortune Hunter, The American Heiress, Victoria and Diva, she has curated eight poetry anthologies. Also, as a producer, her many credits include Grand Designs and Escape to the Country.

Jane Asher plays The Queen. Her stage credits include, Twelfth Night, The Circle (Orange Tree Theatre), A Song At Twilight, Moon Tiger (Theatre Royal Bath), An American in Paris (Dominion Theatre), Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Charley’s Aunt (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Importance of Being Earnest, Farewell to the Theatre, Bedroom Farce (Rose Theatre Kingston), The Reluctant Debutant (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre), Before the Party (Queen’s Theatre), Blythe Spirit, Henceforward, House/Garden (Vaudeville Theatre), Festen (Almeida Theatre), Look Back In Anger (Royal Court Theatre, Criterion Theatre), Making It Better (Hampstead Theatre, Criterion Theatre), Measure for Measure, Romeo and Juliet, The Happiest Days of Your Life … (Bristol Old Vic, US tour), Old Flames (Bristol Old Vic), Peter Pan (Shaftesbury Theatre), Strawberry Fields, The School for Scandal, To Those Born Later (National Theatre), The Philanthropist (Royal Court Theatre, Mayfair Theatre, Broadway), The Shallow End, The Worlds Biggest Diamond, Treats (Royal Court Theatre), and Things We Do For Love (Gielgud Theatre). Her film credits include A Family Affair, Splinter, Burn Burn Burn, I Give It A Year, Alfie, Closing Numbers, Death at a Funeral, Deep End, Dream Child, Henry VIII and His Six Wives, Paris by Night, Runners, and for television, Crossing Lines, Pompidou, Eve, Stella, The Old Guys, Poirot: 3 Act Tragedy, The Palace, A for Andromeda, Crossroads, Miss Marple, The Mistress, Brideshead Revisited and The Mill on the Floss.

Samantha Womack plays The Dresser. Her theatre credits include Grease (Dominion Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre), South Pacific (Barbican), Hope (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool), The Addams Family, 42nd Street, Dear England (UK tours), and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (Gillian Lynne Theatre, UK tour). Her film credits include Mama’s Back, Breeders, Up ‘n’ Under, The Baby Juice Express, Dead Man’s Cards, Forgiven, One Night in Istanbul, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and for television, Demob as series regular, Hedda, Health and Efficiency, Minder, Pie in the Sky as series regular, Nicola Dooley, Game On as lead role, Mandy Wilkins, Sharman, The Grimleys, Babes in the Wood, Imogen’s Face as lead role, Imogen, Liverpool 1 as lead role, DC Isobel de Pauli, Strange as lead role Jude Atkins, Home Again, Mount Pleasant, Silent Witness, Buffering, The Marlow Murder Club, and EastEnders as series regular Ronnie Mitchell.

David Robb plays The Designer. His theatre credits include Private Lives, Armstrong’s Last Goodnight (Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), The Taming of The Shrew, The Beggar’s Opera,  The Promise (Chichester Festival Theatre), She Stoops to Conquer, An Audience Called Edouard (Greenwich Theatre), Cowardy Custard (Mermaid Theatre), Betsi (Haymarket Theatre), King Lear (Almeida Theatre), Half the Picture (Tricycle Theatre), An Ideal Husband (The Old Vic), The Haunting, Single Spies (UK Tour), The Audience (Apollo Theatre), and Grenfell: Value Engineering (Tabernacle Theatre, Birmingham Rep). His television credits include, I Claudius, The Winslow Boy, Wuthering Heights, Le Morte D’Arthur, Fanny by Gaslight, First Among Equals, Half The Picture, Wings, up The Garden Path, Strathblair, Highlander, Taggart, Monarch of the Glen, Ivanhoe, The Flame Trees of Thika, Princess Stallion, The Crow Road, Wolf Hall as series regular Thomas Boleyn, and Downton Abbey as series regular Dr Clarkson. His film credits include The Four Feathers, Regeneration, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Young Victoria, Sacrifice, From Time to Time, All Those Small Things, and Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Matthew Cottle plays The Milliner. His theatre credits include Hamlet, Our Country’s Good, A Small Family Business, The Habit of Art (National Theatre), A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story (Alexandra Palace, Birmingham Rep), Party Games! (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre), Mrs Warren’s Profession (Theatre Royal Bath), Woman in Mind, The Deep Blue Sea, The Chalk Garden (Chichester Festival Theatre), Habeas Corpus, Communicating Doors (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Windsors: Endgame (Prince of Wales Theatre), Rough Crossing (UK tour), Wonderland (Nottingham Playhouse), How the Other Half Loves (Theatre Royal Haymarket), and Neighbourhood Watch (New York). His television credits include Down Cemetery Road, The Responder, Alice & Jack, Life After Life, Bridgerton, Outlander, Defending the Guilty, Endeavour, Traitors, The Windsors, The Dresser, Man Down, and Game On as series regular Martin Henson and for film, By the Throat, The Critic, Seize Them! The Personal History of David Copperfield, Bright Young Things, and Chaplin.

Anthony Banks directs. His theatre credits include Blithe Spirit (Salisbury Playhouse), Inspector Morse, Dial M for Murder, Steel Magnolias, Raz (UK tours), Blackmail (Mercury Theatre Colchester), Herding Cats (Soho Theatre), The Girl on the Train (Duke of York’s Theatre/UK tour), Footballers’ Wives (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), The Gap (Hope Mill Theatre), Mrs Warren’s Profession (Theatre Royal Bath),  My Cousin Rachel (Theatre Royal Bath), Games for Lovers (The Vaults), Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston), Strangers on a Train, Gaslight, DNA (UK tours), Twilight Song (Park Theatre), After Miss Julie (Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour), Cesario, More Light, The Eternal Not, Prince Of Denmark (National Theatre), Pignight (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Experiment (Soho Theatre), Herding Cats (Theatre Royal Bath, Hampstead Theatre, Digital transatlantic production, and Soho Theatre), Bassett (Bristol Old Vic), ReWrite (Westminster Hall/National Theatre) and The Hotel Plays (Grange and Langham Hotels, London). He was also Associate Director at the National Theatre 2004 – 2014 where he commissioned and developed a hundred new plays for NT Connections.

By Royal Appointment plays at York Theatre Royal Tue 10 Nov – Sat 14 Nov. Tickets are available here.