EastEnders legend Samantha Womack has landed her latest role, as one of the two leads in a play about Queen Elizabeth II from Daisy Goodwin, the creator of ITV's Victoria.
By Royal Appointment will focus on how the image of the world's longest-reigning monarch was created, with Ronnie Mitchell actor Womack set to play the Dresser.
Elizabeth II herself will be played by another member of soap royalty: Jane Asher from Crossroads, and that infamous final episode.
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Downton Abbey actor David Robb and The Windsors' Matthew Cottle also star in the new tour, playing The Designer and The Milliner, respectively.
The official synopsis reads: "The late Queen Elizabeth II was famous for her discretion. She never said anything in public that could ruffle the lightest of feathers. But she had one way of expressing what she really thought – through her wardrobe.
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"By Royal Appointment is a funny, poignant and celebratory new play about the kind of power that only a Queen can wield – she charms the world through coats and admonishes her family through a carefully-chosen hat.
"But the Queen herself is uninterested in fashion, her look is managed by her Designer, her Milliner and most powerful of all, her Dresser who was a working-class girl who goes from advising the Queen on the colour of her lipsticks to the real power behind the throne. But the Dresser, like all royal favourites, is living on borrowed time.
"By Royal Appointment is a behind the scenes peek into the world of our most popular monarch and the image she presented to the world."
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The play first premiered last year, with this new tour taking it around the UK with a new cast.
Shows have been announced for late September through early February, with more dates set to be revealed later.
The confirmed dates so far are:
Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge: 21 September – 3 October
Nottingham Theatre Royal: 5 – 10 October
Chelmsford Theatre, Chelmsford: 19 – 24 October
York Theatre Royal: 9 – 14 November
Chichester Festival Theatre: 18 – 23 January 2027
Edinburgh Kings Theatre: 25 – 30 January 2027
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury: 2 – 6 February 2027
Last year, Womack opened up about how she really felt about Ronnie and on-screen sister Roxy's controversial deaths, which saw them both drown in a pool.
"It was really hard for us because it wasn't in our hands. We didn't make the decision to go," she said.
"I don't really understand what happened – one producer was leaving and another was coming in. I don't know what went on. At the time, it felt like bereavement."
The new tour of By Royal Appointment begins on 21 September.
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