The Windsor Diaries, by Alathea Fitzalan Howard, is out on 8 October (Hodder & Stoughton, £25); buy a copy at books.telegraph.co.ukSaturday, 20 April 1940 Princess Elizabeth’s fourteenth birthday tomorrow.
Changed into my green skirt and striped blouse. Went in car to Windsor Castle. All waited in a corridor until King, Queen and princesses arrived… King and Q both charming.
Tea four thirty. No proper birthday cake. After, we saw a film. Our presents have been kept for tomorrow, so I might get a letter! [Alathea gave Princess Elizabeth a writing book.] Everyone looked either awful or not suited to the occasion, except the princesses… [They] had lovely pale blue dresses (cloth skirts and silk tops).
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