15 May, 2026
PumpHouse show lays bare nanny’s brutal treatment by Royal Family
The star of a play about a devoted nanny who was ghosted by the Royal Family after 16 years of loyal service to the original Princess Lilibet, says she hopes audiences will be as moved by the story as she was.
“I don’t think you need to be a royalist to enjoy it – but if you have some knowledge of the time you’re going to find it particularly interesting,” says actor Anna Jullienne (pictured).
The well-known face of stage and screen plays Marion “Crawfie” Crawford in the New Zealand premiere of The Queen’s Nanny, being staged by Tadpole Productions at the PumpHouse theatre in Takapuna.
The plot is based on the sad real-life story of the loved nanny to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Crawfie saw the girls through the shock of the abdication of King Edward VIII and their father’s elevation to the throne, right up to Elizabeth’s marriage to Prince Philip in 1947.
Crawfie, who had studied psychology, served as nanny and governess for much of her 20s and 30s.
It was the memoir she wrote after retiring from the job that cut her adrift. The Little Princesses, published in 1950, was an affectionate account, but it had her thoroughly expunged from the Royal Christmas card list.
The soon-to-be Queen Mother was particularly unforgiving. “Keeping quiet was of the utmost importance,” notes Jullienne.
But it seems initially official figures, and possibly even the Queen Mother herself, weren’t against an idea for stories giving a glimpse into Royal life, as initially pitched by the American publishers of the Ladies’ Home Journal.
By the time this morphed into a memoir, Crawfie became irretrievably persona non grata. “She was cut off from these girls she raised,” says Jullienne. “She wasn’t able to have a family of her own, she married late. So it was the ultimate empty nest.”
Jullienne, who many will recognise from television roles on Shortland Street and 800 Words, is relishing the novelty of playing a character who over 90 minutes transforms from a young woman to a lonely older one, living back in her native Scotland.
“I’m not doing that stooping and ageing on stage, but the story tells the change in lines,” she says.
The production, which acts as a commentary on class, also reunites her with Laura Hill, who plays the Queen Mother. “We were on Shorty at the same time so it’s lovely to be working with her again.”
The third cast member, who plays multiple roles, is Jack Buchanan, who Jullienne has got to know over rehearsals.
He plays six parts, including “Lilibet”, that help narrate and entertain the audience through the play by Australian Melanie Tait.
The PumpHouse is a familiar stage for Jullienne. She was in Tadpole’s production of Three Little Words last year, but the association goes back to her childhood.
“Once a year, I was there for the first week of school holidays,” she says, recounting her rounds of the city’s drama hotspots, with Takapuna home for North Shore Performing Arts Society competitions.
Another reunion is with director Simon Prast, who directed for Tadpole last year, and also played the part of Thomas Cromwell when Jullienne was Anne Boleyn for the Auckland Theatre Company 13 years ago.
“But the royals aren’t something that factor into my everyday life,” she says.
She does relate, however, to the benefits of a good nanny. “We used a nanny when I did 800 Words.” Her second son was young at the time.
“It’s the closest I’ll ever get to having a wife,” jokes the grateful mother of three.
These days, with her boys aged 12 and 9 both at school and a daughter who is nearly 5, she is managing the juggle with family support. As we speak, her mother-in-law arrives for a swimming lesson pick-up.
Then Jullienne is off to finesse The Queen’s Nanny in readiness for local audiences. “I hope the story of Marion and her sacrifice speaks to them in the way it touched me.”
The Queen’s Nanny, 13-24 May,
7.30pm and some matinees. Adult tickets $49 and some concessions.
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