Elizabeth and Marilyn

What you need to know before your trail

A glittering array of stars turn out in London for a Royal Film Premiere, where they will be presented to the Queen. Elizabeth II: an elegant young mother and wife, gracious and self-sacrificing who has embraced her patriotic duty despite never expecting to take the throne.

Cameras flash and a limousine pulls up. Out steps a vision in dazzling gold. Marilyn Monroe. A global sensation and money-making machine for Hollywood, with curves that drive men wild and a smile that lets women know she’s in on the joke.

Finally, the two most famous women in the world will come face to face in public for the first time. And the world is watching.

But behind the scenes they are Lilibet and Norma Jeane. Two women from very different backgrounds, who on the surface have little in common. Yet beneath the glamorous costumes and jewels, both women are fighting to keep the men they love, while trying to do their work in a man’s world. And they have spent the summer of 1956 as neighbours, battling secret demons that their adoring public could only guess at