The forgotten story of the Queen's swimming friends - and what they know about our Monarch Those who attended lessons with Her Majesty as a young girl reflect on the princess they encountered and the friend they made 16 May 2021 • 5:00am In 1941, the Queen became the first young person in the Commonwealth to receive a Junior Respiration Award from the Royal Life Saving Society The morning of December 10, 1936 began much like any other Thursday for the young Princess Elizabeth – with a swimming lesson. After her class at the Bath Club on Dover Street, she came home to 145 Piccadilly, the stone-fronted house that looked across to Green Park and beyond to Buckingham Palace, where the Yorks (as they were then) lived.