Comedy of errors as princess goes incognito

MOST girls dream of being princesses but for the future Queen of England, an evening spent roaming the streets of London incognito among thousands of common folk is her idea of a delightful prospect, if unlikely. Yet that's exactly what happened on VE (Victory in Europe) Day 70 years ago when Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret joined the celebrating throngs and experienced - for one night only - what it was like to be ordinary.

A Royal Night Out takes more than a few liberties with what actually happened on May 8, 1945, but it is based on fact: Elizabeth, 19, and Margaret, 14, were allowed by their father King George VI to venture beyond the gates of Buckingham Palace and mingle with the crowd. The heir to the British throne going on an unofficial walkabout with her younger sibling seems preposterous these days but it's somehow comfort…