Princess Elizabeth in WW2

[Hopkirk]

Did she stay in London, or was she evacuated?

[lady-janine]

i think the royal family stayed in london

[emmie]

aged 18 she was in the Women's Auxiliary so doing her bit for King and country. I believed that was here in the capital. Would have to check that.

[LyndaB]

Didn't the Queen Mother once say something along the lines of - "the Princesses will not leave without me, I will not leave without the King. The King will never leave".

[Hopkirk]

I heard that on VE Day she slipped out and mingled with the celebrating crowds.

She couldn't do that now!

[emmie]

Wiki

From September 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, Elizabeth and Margaret stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk.[25] From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they stayed for most of the next five years.[26] The suggestion by senior politician Lord Hailsham that the two princesses should be evacuated to Canada was rejected by Elizabeth's mother; she declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave

[Hopkirk]

Thanks Em.

Not exactly risking the blitz then, though I would have been surprised if they did.

[emmie]

according to the info i had a look at, Buckingham Palace was bombed 7 times, one that almost killed the King. I also read that she did slip out and mix with the crowds on VE Day.

[emmie]

there's plenty of footage of the King and Queen going around bombed damaged areas, particularity the east end. London got a shellacking which way anyone likes to look at it. You were lucky not to be hit by a doodlebug, my mum told me lots of tales where whole streets were taken out in one hit.

[jno]

the palace was bombed; it was after that the Queen Mother said something like "At last I can look the East End in the face".

[emmie]

jno, as said above, 7 bomb hits over time, so they were not entirely exempt.

[emmie]

another source

Shortly after Churchill's speech King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two princesses came out onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace to acknowledge the ecstatic, cheering throng. It was to be the first of eight appearances by the King and Queen on VE Day. When the doors onto the balcony were opened again at 5.30pm, the Royal Family stepped out accompanied by the man of the hour, Churchill.

Later that evening, when the King and Queen appeared once more, amongst the joyful crowd below were their two daughters. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had slipped out of the Palace to join in and experience the jubilation.

[cathfromsaron]

they of course had very secure accommodation wherever they were!

the parents popped up ad hoc for walk abouts etc to raise morale, giving the impression they were perm residents of london!

but we must not forget the little princesses were assassination and kidnap targets too!

[Hopkirk]

Oh yes, Cath, I am not criticising.

I would have been very surprised if they were put in harms way.

[jno]

I think some European royalty (Belgium?) fled their country; British royals insisted on staying with their people and taking the same risks. It's probably folk memory of this that's always made the Queen and her mum, and royalty generally, so popular. But it won't necessarily be the same for the next generation.

[Hopkirk]

Oh I don't know, jno, I can imagine a whole generation enjoying looking at Kate

[jno]

she could be 70 by the time she gets to be queen, and people may well be as tired of William by then as they are now of Charles, and cooing over William's grandchildren.

But unlike the queen and the war, I don't think there will ever be any feeling that Chalres has shared in his subjects' hardships.

[emmie]

Windsor didn't escape from the bombings either.

http://www.windsor-be...mb-damage-in-windsor/