On 8 May 1945, as crowds celebrated the end of World War Two in Europe, a teenage Princess Elizabeth slipped out of Buckingham Palace incognito with her sister Margaret to join the revelry. The future queen later described it as 'one of the most memorable nights of my life' in a 1985 BBC interview.
King George VI allowed his daughters to experience the joy firsthand, writing in his diary: 'Poor darlings, they have never had any fun yet.' The princesses were accompanied by their cousin Margaret Rhodes, who recalled it as 'a Cinderella moment in reverse' where they could pretend to be ordinary.
Elizabeth was 13 when war broke out in 1939 and spent much of the conflict at Windsor Castle. In October 1940, she made her first radio broadcast, reassuring evacuated children. At 18, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, training as a driver and mechanic.
VE Day saw dense crowds gather at Buckingham Palace, Whitehall and Westminster. Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe at 3pm, while the Royal Family appeared repeatedly on the Palace balcony. The UK suffered around 450,000 deaths during the war, including 67,000 civilians.
