It is in a comedy that the Queen Mother, who disappeared in 2002, will reappear alongside her famous butler William Tallon. Entered Buckingham Palace at the age of 15, he remained 51 years in the service of the royal family, before dying in 2007 at the age of 72. Nicknamed Backstairs Billy by the press, his role brought him closer to the Queen Mother, becoming one of her closest confidants.
After nearly a decade away from the boards, Luke Evans, known for starring in Fast
For Penelope Wilton, this comedy is “a joyful and compassionate play,” she says. [The Queen Mother] suddenly becomes a person full of life and we see her for who she really is, and not just as the mother of the Queen. Billy allowed her to be who she was.” Michael Grandage, the director of the play Backstairs Billy, met the Queen Mother and her sidekick at a reception in 1997. had an incredible respect and depth, and we knew that each depended on the other in one way or another”, he underlines.
The play will be performed from October 27, 2023 to January 27, 2024 at the Duke of York’s Theater in London. The famous butler was previously the subject of a 2015 book called Backstairs Billy: the royal life of William Tallon. ‘drunk’, had angered the niece and former lady-in-waiting of the Queen Mother, Margaret Rhodes, who had dismissed these allegations in the columns of the Sunday Express.
