Heir & Spare: Elizabeth & Margaret (2023) FULL DOCUMENTARY | HD

foreign [Music] that wears the crown but heavier is the burden of being next in line the British royal family is built on the traditional duty until death for every heir to the throne there is a spam princess Elizabeth would would sometimes complain Margaret always wants what I want so I think what you actually see there between the two of them is sibling rivalry it's something that one always has to remember there may have been princesses they may have been royal but they were also human this was the the tone of their lives that they were very very close but of course there were kind of moments where they would kick and they would bite and they would fight you know or particularly Princess Margaret would Elizabeth and Margaret two sincere sisters but a younger sister Margaret is really left in the sidelines he always gave Margaret an extra kiss I think the whole feeling was that Elizabeth was going to be queen that she was going to have everything so there had to be so much attention and focus on Margaret who was over indulged whereas Elizabeth was so much was expected of her and because she was that sort of character that took her Duty so seriously in in many ways she was sort of almost left to get on with the job and all this attention went to Margaret who became the black sheep of the family but was utterly adored by her father [Music] the air and the spare is what really concludes their relationship they grew up to be opposites despite being close during their childhood and teenage years the looming pressure of the crown meant that Princess Margaret struggled to find a meaning in her role and this defined the sister's relationship they were both princesses but only one could be Queen thank you 1936 the year that changed everything Princess Margaret was six years old when her Uncle Edward VII abdicated the British throne in order to marry the woman he loved Elizabeth was 10. their uncle had chosen love over Duty he wanted to be with divorcee Wallace Simpson which argued with the head of the church at the time as the rules were very clear remarriage after divorce was forbidden if a former spouse was alive when it became clear to Edward that he could not stay on the throne and marry Simpson he abdicated his decision upended her life as Edward's younger brother Prince Albert became King George VI and his daughter princess Elizabeth became his presumed successor when their Uncle David as he was known to the family otherwise King Edward VII abdicated it was Princess Elizabeth who told Princess Margaret and she said Uncle David's going away and papa is to be king and Princess Margaret said to her does that mean you're going to be Queen and Elizabeth said yes one day and nothing more was ever said about it all between them and Princess Elizabeth as as we know very well is able to compartmentalize aspects of her life she realized this girl of ten the one day she would become Queen this was a highly controversial time as King George VI spent his entire life believing that his brother would become a king and he could live a quiet life with his wife and two daughters his was the first voluntary abdication in a thousand years of British history an abdication he explained to his far-flung Empire in the most dramatic and heart-rending farewell ever broadcast but you believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility when I went to help and support of the women I love but from the 11th of December 1936 this all took a turn their father became king and it was from this point onwards that Elizabeth and Margaret were treated differently prompting Margaret's alleged lament of now that papar is King I am nothing when they're on cause abdication brought their parents unexpectedly to the throne the Rivalry between the sisters became more apparent at their parents coronation Elizabeth had a train Margaret did not and resented it at the time of their parents coronation in May of 1937 Margaret was a bit bothered by the fact that her train was shorter than her sisters and she complained about this and it had to be explained to her that it had nothing to do with rank she wasn't being demoted in any way what it meant was that the train was cut in relation to their height so as Margaret was shorter she obviously had a shorter trade so there was just that kind of little thing why well why doesn't that also apply to me as she grew up of course she knew perfectly well why there would be those kind of certain differences little did Elizabeth know of how much her future would change from her papa being crowned she was only at the tender age of 10. she went from having a private aristocratic life into one that was heavily put in the spotlight King George VI loved his two daughters dearly and wanted Elizabeth to be prepared for the time when she would succeed him he gave her a writing assignment in contrast to his coronation so that she could draw upon that for strength when her time eventually came Elizabeth's education also took a turn she was taught by tutors from Oxford Cambridge and Eaton when asked why Margaret couldn't have these lessons too she was told it wasn't necessary for you instead Margaret went on to have lessons from a governess but that was all with lessons in music and dance she felt that she could have achieved more in life had she been educated differently it was something that Margaret would later reveal she felt somewhat resentful about and decided to educate herself one of the things that really upset Margaret was that Elizabeth had lessons from the Provost of Eaton she was schooled in world events history The Church everything like that and Margaret resented that because actually of the two of them Margaret was the brighter she was the intellectually brighter more diligent and she longed to have a proper education but in those days that wasn't possible you know they had a rather mediocre tutors and governesses so I think there's absolutely always a sense that whoever is air apparent is being groomed for the role from the minute they know that that's their destiny things did change for princess Elizabeth as heires presumptive because it was felt that on an educational level that she needed higher education particularly when you think of the British constitution and matters like that that it was now crucial that she should be very well aware of and so she was given this additional instruction by the them Provost of Eaton College Sandra Martin I talked to Princess Margaret about this on one occasion and said that you didn't get that higher education and she said no it was always a bone of contention and I said well it was really very short-sighted because when you think that your grandfather King George V was the second son and he was caught to the throne your father was the Second Son and the same thing happened with him here you were the second child there was only a heartbeat between you and your sister yet you did not get the same further education that princess Elizabeth got and she said it it was always a bone of contention the arks became King and Queen Elizabeth that ten was now air presumptive George had been preparing Elizabeth to one day succeed him as the British monarch and as head of Commonwealth the way he'd done this is to to essentially demonstrate to her uh what the role of Monarch required and also give her opportunities to to begin to develop uh her own public role and so there'd always be in a sense that he wants her to be surrounded by people like Alan lassells Tommy lasalles who was his private secretary who knew the basic workings of a monarchy who could help her who could guide her because he remembered how Churchill had been an invaluable counselor for him and he knew that ultimately if he wasn't able to be the person who could guide his daughter who wanted people to be around her who could and of course one of his people was Winston Churchill to make up for this George VI and his wife Elizabeth beau's lion began to indulge Margaret with her father in particular cositing her Margaret and King George were always very close he was known to say that Elizabeth is my pride Margaret is my joy throughout their lives their family Dynamic has always been one so strong they were often referred to as US for signaling the strength in which the family carried together King George VI he always referred to his himself his wife and two daughters as us four us four they were a wonderfully tight unit but because they they never anticipated their ranks and their position and their responsibilities changing they anticipated carrying on as being this very close-knit very loving us for Princess Margaret and her sister did have hugely enjoyable and very loving childhood George's relationship with his daughters is a very good one he had a deep affection for both Elizabeth and Margaret he was a family-orientated man who took great pleasure in watching them grow up and ensuring their development he also saw them as the future of the monarchy so they therefore received a training in what it was to be young members of the British royal family from him and his wife he had great expectations for both of them the sisters have always had each other to rely on especially during times of isolation and distress they were brought up really taking care of each other of course their relationship wasn't without its troubles tensions are inevitable between all siblings especially when the older was a ruling Monarch and the younger her subject [Music] one of the things that Margaret felt in contrast to her sister was that she had a more outgoing nature suited to the role of Monarch compared to her sister who is seen to be more somber fights between them were frequent princess Elizabeth is said to have a mean left hook while Margaret liked to get in close and was known to bite the Two Sisters couldn't have been more different while older sister Elizabeth remains more stayed and consistent her younger sister Margaret was known as a rebellious Royal but despite their opposite directions their relationship was extremely close-knit up until their deaths when they were children princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret of course they had apparently Princess Margaret had a pretty good left hook Margaret understood his temperament Margaret was terribly spoiled I mean she was a complete Daddy's girl but she was the only one who could soothe him when he got into what the family called one of his terrible gnashes his kind of anxious frustrated rages and Margaret would be the one who could you sort of tickle him out of those with humor and love and jokes princess Elizabeth would would sometimes complain Margaret always wants what I want so I think what you actually see there between the two of them is sibling rivalry as there would be with other children other sisters other brothers it's something that one always has to remember there may have been princesses they may have been royal but they were also human this was this was the the tone of their lives that they were very very close but of course there were kind of moments where they would kick and they would bite and they would fight you know or particularly Princess Margaret would he always gave Margaret an extra kiss I think the whole feeling was that Elizabeth was going to be queen that she was going to have everything so there had to be so much attention and focus on Margaret who was over indulged whereas Elizabeth was so much was expected of her and because she was that sort of character that took her Duty so seriously in many ways she was sort of almost left to get on with the job and all this attention went to Margaret who became the black sheep of the family but was utterly adored by her father I don't think Princess Margaret consciously lived her life thinking of the differences between her and her sister but there it has been said that she was jealous of her sister well I always counter that by saying given how close they were always throughout their life even if it was just to say hello they talk on the telephone every day it's very difficult to maintain that close Bond as well as being jealous of somebody Elizabeth looked after her she was always really kind to her little sister a beautiful little sister and they had a very very close relationship they looked after each other but obviously Elizabeth was the oldest and so she kind of took charge of her little sister because there was this incredibly strong loving bond between Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth that there was always that support there throughout their lives they were as different as chalk and cheese princess Elizabeth very uncomplicated very straightforward Princess Margaret very complex you know her sister in later life described her as being an enigma and really that about Sam syrup because she was a very enigmatic personality in 1940 Hitler began to bomb England thousands of children were evacuated among them Elizabeth and Margaret now 14 and 10 who were set up the Thames to a safer Haven well the outbreak of World War II affected the British royal family hugely because um they were right up there at Buckingham Palace which was a a big big Target for the German bombers but they decided that they would not leave the country they would stay there with their people but they obviously had to look after their two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret eventually stayed at Windsor Castle for five years well the king and queen went to London during the week and they wanted to be visible to their people so they would go around the bombed areas you know and meet the people and obviously the king became very involved with the troops and he would go and visit the troops so they were a very big part of the sort of PR war effort what tragedies what Horrors what crime has Hitler and all that Hitler stands for brought up in Europe and the world of the 500 German planes that came over that day more than one-third were shot down in the 28 days of Terror from September 7th to October 5th the Nazis dropped 50 million pounds of bombs on the city killed seven thousand helpless civilians and wounded ten thousand more bombs fell on Buckingham Palace [Music] Westminster Abbey foreign Fleet Street the center of the news Saint Paul's Cathedral bombs blasting the historic past out of the lives of Englishmen [Music] war broke out in 1939 just two years after their father was crowned the two sisters were evacuated to Windsor Castle where they would end up staying for five years like most British children at the time they were separated from their parents they favored fun activities to entertain themselves with one activity they found themselves enjoying was being dressed as pantomimes and it was here that Margaret found her ability to perform and she began to shine she took all the attention and Elizabeth was pleased to stand back and let Margaret have the spotlight she knew that her sister needed to find a purpose in her role and in doing so Margaret became famous for her ability to shine as a princess in 1940 Elizabeth would make a radio broadcast during children's hour that would genuinely Captivate the nation and her sister Margaret would be right by her side Elizabeth even thought to include her sister at the end of the broadcast perhaps aware of her wants and need to receive some of the attention from the public at Large well in in October 1940 the king and queen paid a visit to the BBC and the chairman of the BBC asked them if there was any chance that perhaps his eldest daughter might contribute to the the evacuees who were in Canada or Australia North America there were a lot of them there and they had a program called Children's Hour which was embryonic then and they asked the king if he would consider allowing his daughter to do it well of course she was thrilled to do it and practiced very very hard and eventually age age only 14 gave this extremely professional speech to the children that were separated from their parents five famous little hearts are stirred as the Dion Quince listened to a broadcast from London by Princess Elizabeth a message of cheer to Children of the empire my sister is by my side and we are both going to say good night to you come on Margaret good night children good night and good luck to you all princess Elizabeth always thinking about her younger sister she bought her younger sister in at the very end and said come on Margaret and come on Margaret became a catchphrase in America that the the speech went down an absolute storm in America and it was like headline news in the New York Post you know that the the this princess had given this speech to the evacuees so and also politically it was a very good thing because of those Churchill was trying to get the President Roosevelt you know to enter into the war on on you know to support us so anything that we could do was a good thing the Battle of France is over the Battle of Britain is about to begin knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war let the staff or brace ourselves to our duty so bear ourselves but if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say this but they are fighting shower it was a difficult few years for the two princesses but they kept each other company they were true wartime children and growing up in a time of austerity would impact them for a long time to come they took part in the government's dig for victory campaign to help fight food shortages Elizabeth also joins the ATS the auxiliary territorial service where she trained as a driver and mechanic starting at the rank of second subaltern and later she was promoted to Junior Commander which was the equivalent to Captain yeah princess and overalls on her 19th birthday the heires presumptive to England's Throne learns a few facts about tires and carburetors Elizabeth is in the ATS or British whack and at the King's request is being treated just like any other trainee now visited by her parents and Sister Margaret Rose at a training station in Southern England she shows them she knows a fan belt from a spark plug all right and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty her father gave her an officer's commission early in March Papa and Mama seem to approve too daughter is the first woman member of the royal family to join the services full time the young princess who's never set foot in a London pass and was only once in the subway now drives a truck for the Red Cross and come to think of it can you name a better way for a princess to spend her birthday [Music] her father's trust became quite clear as when he went to tour the Italian Battlefield during the war he named Elizabeth as a council of state which meant that she was a representative of her father whilst he was away and unable to do so Margaret did come to Envy the fact that her sister would join the ATS and she could not but Margaret was a few years younger than Elizabeth and was unable to join the ATS because of her age the great thing was to not to be recognized so we were all dressed down and I've got everybody was in uniform anybody who wasn't in uniform looked out of place so I was at I wasn't allowed to join the arm because I was too young and Services I should say and so so I was rather some kept back [Music] Elizabeth was the last head of state to have served the UK during the war Her Sister Margaret had become a girl guide and later joined the sea Rangers I think that living five years of your childhood somewhere would give you either a loathing or a deep affection for a place and I think that is definitely where the queen sort of fell in love with Windsor Castle which is still supposedly to be her favorite official home a few years after the war Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Philip took place on the 20th of November 1947. this meant that Elizabeth's attention to her sister would shift to Prince Philip and her children her Governors Marion Crawford talks in great detail about their first meeting at Dartmouth College where Prince Philip was a a naval Cadet and he was very very good looking 18 years old very striking blonde looking and he was assigned to look after the two princesses Elizabeth and Margaret for the day for their visit while their parents went around the college but he decided that it would be fun if they jumped the tennis Nets so he took the princesses outside and he jumped the tennis nets for them and they were very very impressed for Margaret it was a different story her path was not as clear as Elizabeth's she was unsure of where her role was heading and how she could make a contribution supporting her elder sister this was a time of great distress for her as she had come to terms with partly losing her sister when her engagement to Lieutenant Philip mountbatten of the royal ladies announced the heart of the world is thrilled by the prospect of one royal wedding with a genuine Aura of romance a former Greek Prince Philip gave up his Greek citizenship to become a British subject on the eve of the wedding the king elevates him to the peerage and he becomes officially his Royal Highness Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh Earl of marionette and baron Greenwich well when Elizabeth and Philip got engaged they decided that because London was ravaged by War and you know a lot of the buildings were absolutely rubble and and there was you know there was unemployment there was rationing it was in a really bad place the government or the king thought well let's have a very quiet wedding at St George's Chapel Windsor no point no ceremony were just you know be very private but then the government surprisingly said no no no we need to lift the people's Spirits let's have a beautiful royal wedding that everybody can see and now the great hour arrives as the Queen and Princess Margaret Rose leave Buckingham Palace for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey and Prince Philip with Split Second timing all pseudopods for the great rendezvous the Royal Standard waves over a truly Royal occasion as the state coach with Elizabeth and the king is escorted to Westminster Abbey by the household of Cavalry guards a sovereign [Music] I think many people have asked the queen and asked Prince Philip what is the secret of their relationship and the queen has spoken out on a few occasions and she said patience sense of humor and she'd said famously of course that Prince Philip had simply been her Rock and her stay over the years and he had he'd always been there to support her although he never involved himself in constitutional Affairs he was there as a sounding board he was someone to listen and someone who would be on her side or would give her a criticism which of course nobody else really could Elizabeth welcomed her first son Charles on the 14th of November 1948. [Music] the early years of marriage have set the seal on the happiness of the princess and her husband the blessing of children has come not only to enrich their lives but also to establish securely the line of succession in Prince Charles the public has acquired a new popular subject of interest of whom some delightful pictures have been taken we should like to see more of him but the insatiable demand of the public has had to bow to the princess's very proper determination that her son shall not be spoiled by publicity princess Elizabeth then announced her second child Anne in August 1950. [Music] it was in Kenya at the Royal hunting lodge that the news of the King's death reached his daughter started out in her married life but the death of her father cut short the happiness in which she felt as an ordinary family King George VI died in 1952. this was a day that would come with great shock for the two girls although he had a few health issues he was still relatively Young princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were standing in for the king and queen and they started a a big Commonwealth tour in in Kenya as it was called in those days and the people of Kenya wanted them to be there and they'd given them a lodge for their wedding present and the the sort of joy for them was that they were going to visit this game reserve and there was a little place called Treetops which was overlooking a Salt Lake so you could really see the animals you know this is this is uh 1952 so the whole of India was teeming with game and they spent the night up there and actually it was during the night unbeknownst to the princess that she became Queen they they left their game viewing went back to sagana Lodge and had a little sleep because they'd been up all night when the news came across to Prince Philip's private secretary Mike Parker that the king had died and he thought that he he eventually had he had one of those little radios and he fiddled with it and eventually he heard the sounds of Big Ben and he knew that the news was true and it was his duty to tell Prince Philip which was probably he says later the most difficult thing he'd ever had to do in his life so he went to Prince Philip and told him the news that his wife Prince Philip's wife was Queen so Prince Philip was in such shock he just put a newspaper over his face and let the news just absorb and then he got up and he went and got the princess out of her bedroom where she was resting and took her down to the lake at the bottom of the garden and the lady in waiting tells a wonderful story she watched them walk up and down up and down and she knew that he was telling her and when they walked back into the lodge she wanted she was putting her arms around the princess and she thought my goodness but she's Queen and dropped into a curtsy and then of course they had to make their way back to England as quickly as possible and there were all kinds of problems planes broke down the queen queen now she's Queen didn't have her morning clothes with her so she had to go all the way back in a sort of a summer frock and they had several small flights before they got on the big flight by the time they arrived back at London Airport she came down the steps beautifully dressed in her black clothes and Prince Philip waited on the steps until she was at the bottom and she greeted her prime minister and that's how it was going to be from then on the rulers of our land meet to welcome the new Queen there too the Duke of Gloucester her uncle and the Lord Chancellor the premier and Mr Atley leader of the opposition are agreed in this great moment of our history her tour of the Commonwealth canceled the princess we knew as a girl and watched in the even growth of her stature comes back to meet her ministers as Queen over the great lands that for 15 years acknowledged her father as head he adored Margaret probably because he knew he couldn't give her what he could give Elizabeth the power and status of being a queen she already somewhat lost her close sister so losing her father made her lose all sorts following his death her smoking habits increased she longed for a replacement Elizabeth remained stoic as she heard the news of her father's death whilst Margaret became deeply affected by this news this perhaps contributed to the role in which Elizabeth is expected to play in her future and the role in which Margaret longs to find [Music] well I think the reason that that the queen is referred to by some historians is on the unlikely Queen is that you know she wasn't prepared to be Queen she was married in 1947. and she expected to have a proper long -ish married life before her father died but he died quite suddenly so she was an unlikely Queen and also she wasn't designated to be Queen because her uncle who became Edward VII very briefly abdicated and put Elizabeth directly in the line of succession foreign significance of the coronation is that it's a very ancient ceremony and the queen has to be anointed in the eyes of God and that is the coronation ceremony so she sits on the throne in a very simple white linen dress and she has holy oil put on her forehead and that makes her Queen in the eyes of God which is why she always said in all her speeches you know I I will rule and I will do my duty and as long as I'm fit and able to do so and it was televised because Prince Philip pushed the idea that it would be a great thing for the country and the Commonwealth and the world even to have this uh this ancient ceremony televised when the queen came to the throne she was only 26. Churchill made the remark to his private secretary but she's a child but she wasn't a child she was very sophisticated and mature mentally and it was a man's world and in you know women were really subservient in those days and the queen was walking into this world of men who were all much much older than her and also she hadn't really been taught she said there was no way to be taught all she did was she watched what her father did and followed him so of course the the court was very old-fashioned and very stuffy you know because it was really her father's Court following her father's death Elizabeth's coronation was on the 2nd of June 1953. this was the event of the century and was extremely joyous Princess Margaret is to have said that she really felt she lost her sister on this day for a princess who just lost her father losing her sister came rather quickly but even after being crowned the Two Sisters remained close Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret were so close that they even had a direct phone line between their homes so they could talk to each other whenever they wished while Elizabeth had ascended to the throne when she was 25 Margaret's adult life always made room for fun she liked going to theaters and nightclubs and sometimes didn't return home until the early hours of the morning the next day would usually start with a late breakfast before any Royal commitments were seen to Margaret has apparently once said that when there are two sisters one being the queen who is the source of honor and all that is good the other must be the focus of the most creative malice the evil sister while it's not certain Margaret actually uttered those words it is true that her behavior could make Queen Elizabeth shine in comparison Elizabeth is known to be more organized more discreet whilst Margaret like to have the attention on her and was known to Be Wild Margaret was criticized for excessive expenses her wedding honeymoon subsequent Renovations of Kensington Palace and a tour of the United States all came under Fire hmm Princess Margaret almost scuppered her sister Elizabeth's coronation with her obsessive love for group Captain Peter Townsend her first love was never fully realized as the object of her affections Peter Townsend was divorced and at the time a senior Royal could not marry a divorcee and keep their place in the British royal family it was like the abdication all over again Queen Elizabeth was left in a distraught position as she was head of the church at the time which didn't allow for remarriage after divorce she felt extremely poorly for her sister and really wanted Margaret to be with a man she loved though Margaret understood the pressure in which Elizabeth was under tensions between the sisters were Rising Margaret longed for the same sense of family like her sister she wanted a husband complete with children after the coronation in 1953 attached to Westminster Abbey was this purpose-built Annex through which the processions formed and people came and went and after the immediately after the coronation ceremony in her excitement Princess Margaret went up to group Captain Peter Townsend and put her hand on his tunic now he she might have been flicking away a piece of cotton a piece of wool a piece of fur from an old Dow just mink coat or something uh but this was noticed by one British journalist in particular called Audrey Whiting and Audrey thought now that's something there's something going on there because that was such an intimate gesture told his eagle-eyed journalists ah something is going on here and indeed it was excitement bubbles like champagne in London as group Captain Peter Townsend returns from diplomatic duties in Belgium to call on Princess Margaret another impossibly a climactic phase opens in a much publicized Royal romance that's had the Western World to go the queen and her family are watched with keenest attention for a hint of what the ultimate decision may be yes or no and what will the princess herself decide all the world loves a lover and there's nothing like a happy ending to a royal love story for National Rapture Britain watches with breathless anticipation an exciting week that reunites the sweethearts brings the captain to dinner at The Palace and closets the royal family with the Archbishop of Canterbury main opponent of the marriage Captain Townsend seems unruffled by the tension but the consensus is something definite had better happened soon or an overwrought Nation may just give way Elizabeth always taking care of her little sister managed to wait for her to overcome the rules once Margaret reached the age of 25 she could petition the privy Council and they could allow her to marry and keep her royal title and allowance without the need for permission from the queen but there was one small catch Margaret would have to give up her succession rights and for any children she may have say as has been said that the queen prevented them from marrying she didn't at all the queen stood back and she said to Princess Margaret this is a decision that you are going to have to make and the queen did not want to influence and did not influence her sister in any shape or form her attitude was I can't do anything you have to decide what you want to do and have been aware that subject to my renouncing my rights of succession it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage but mindful of the church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth I have resolved to put these considerations before any others after much suspense among the press the public were eager to know what the dear princess would choose Margaret had decided not to marry Townsend in her announcement she said I'm conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth I have decided to put these considerations before any others this decision to put Duty ahead of everything else perhaps takes as inspiration from her sister Elizabeth maybe that she found a father figure with Townsend that she lost at her father's death but he was 16 years her senior and the rules were clear at the time when the relation and the relationship with Peter Townsend really grew more intense after the King's death because here she'd always had this very strong loving relationship with her sister now by the time the king died in 1952 princess Elizabeth had married she'd become the mother of two children so that when she ascended the throne she still had a husband she still had two children but she had all the responsibilities of sovereignty everything that came with being Queen so that meant that she was somewhat removed from her sister now princess Margaret's mother Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was engulfed as she put it in great clouds of black so she wasn't there for a daughter either she was totally consumed with her grief so who did Margaret have nobody really except Peter Townsend and that closeness Grew From that time and it developed into love there were stories after Town's end that she kept herself to herself in her moping in her room at Clarence House playing a sad records and I said one occasion so you know were you desperately unhappy after Town's end well on on a cabinet behind me was a Faberge frame with a small photograph of her in the center and she said um have a look at that photograph do I look unhappy in it and I said no there you are she's got your answer she got on with her life you know was she like everybody else there were periods of deep unhappiness in her life of course there were how could there not be but on the whole she had a very active and was she happy yes I think she was after several years Princess Margaret would set eyes on Anthony Armstrong Jones also known as Tony at a dinner party in 1958 but it was far from love at first sight it took several months for a romance to Blossom after Tony was commissioned to photograph Margaret but even then things were kept very harsh harsh nobody knew about their relationship there wasn't a whisper about it she would see him in secret at his studio and he would join her at parties but no one could pinpoint which man she was interested in the Press focused more on the ones who are seen to be eligible they didn't think of Tony who was often in the background as a photographer they weren't under the radar for long though Tony proposed to Margaret in February of 1960. that may their royal wedding at Westminster Abbey was the first Royal Wedding to be televised as he was not a divorcee or anything of that sort the marriage was approved of by the queen wedding day rehearsal of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones with lots of excitement in Britain public attention is focused on last minute preparations for the procession of the wedding couple from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace the city will be in festive array each flagpole along the mall adorned with Triple Crowns they'd met at a private dinner party in 1958 a great friend of tone isn't a great friend of Princess Margaret as well as her lady in waiting was Lady Elizabeth Cavendish and Lady Elizabeth was giving a private dinner party at her parents house in Chelsea and among the guests that that evening was Tony Armstrong Jones who was best known at that time I suppose as a photographer you know there are other strings to his bow but he was he was known as a photographer now that particular evening he didn't have much of an effect on her she didn't give him very much of a thought um until afterwards a friend of hers was going off on some kind of diplomatic Mission and said you know could I take some it would be very nice to have a photograph of you to take with me and so she agreed to to sit for photographs and this guy said and I know exactly the photographer Tony Armstrong Jones so he came and then something clicked from then on you know they but there as it grew into Romance it was and it remained a secret nobody not even Lady Elizabeth Cavendish who'd introduce them none of her closest friends none of her family actually knew that they were going out with one another if they were going out if he together it was always with a group of friends so that nobody could say oh she's who's this man that she's with you know and um one of their friends said to me well if you want to keep a secret a secret you don't tell anybody and they didn't and their love grew and escalated uh to the extent that Tony through a friend of his in rotherhithe in East London took on what became known as the little white room and this it was a white room and it overlooked the Thames in rather highs and as the princess said in One Direction you looked at the cranes of the docks in the other direction you saw tower bridge and supports Cathedral it was in a Bend of the river and at high tide she said swans would look in through the window and this was their this was their bolt hole this is where they escaped too [Music] because nobody knew that she and Tony Armstrong Jones were seeing one another when their engagement was announced it it really was a massive surprise you know the media was reeling partly through enthusiasm and excitement this is my decent photographer he's one of us you know he he worked in Fleet Street he was a he was a fashion designer a fashion photographer a society photographer he was part of the of the press you know and they didn't know of they had no idea that he even knew Princess Margaret so there was this immense surprise together they made a glamorous and Charming picture of a royal couple they traveled touring America and hobnobbing with the Hollywood Elite in a trip that was considered So Scandalous by the Brits then Margaret wasn't actually allowed to return to the country in an official capacity for years Tony was created the Earl of Snowden after Margaret became pregnant with their first child David in 1961 a daughter Sarah followed in 1964. the couple gave all appearances of being happy but cracks began to show in the relationship speculation abounded that Tony was having flings with other women while away on assignment for the Sunday Times while Margaret had had her own dalliances with the likes of Anthony Barton a college friend of Tony's and Roddy Llewellyn a landscape Gardener 18 years her Junior in 1969 Snowden embarked on a protracted extramarital affair with Lady Jacqueline Rufus Isaacs but he and Margaret remained together until the marriage finally buckled Under The Strain in 1976 they separated and in 1978 officially announced their divorce making Margaret the first Royal to divorce since King Henry VII guests on the Dance Floor Lord Snowden had been dancing until the early hours the night before showed no signs of flagging today the Hollywood visit ended now the princess and Lord Snowden go to Arizona for a four-day rest foreign people sometimes dispute you know well were Margaret and Tony really in love the answer is yes they were they were fantastically in love with one another it even to the point of dying their hair to match one another you know that's what it was like um things did change quite soon because Lady Elizabeth Cavendish had said to Princess Margaret you know Tony is a bohemian do you know what that means yes the princess said well she said you do know it means he won't always be home for dinner you won't always know where he is well it was kind of love conquers all you know and when your head over heels in love yes of course you can put up with any kind of scenario and she said that they talked about everything they were of the same religion they talked about whether or not they wanted children and so on and so forth but it was love that blinded them both and it wasn't too long before not knowing where where he was did matter if he wasn't going to be home for dinner or didn't come home for dinner then that did matter and I think after three years really the cracks were already on the wall where Tony was concerned she never wanted to be a divorce either this was never part of the plan and to begin with he told her that he didn't want a divorce either most family paths meet and separate throughout their lives with circumstances sometimes forcing them apart yet it is so often tragedy or crisis which brings them together again Elizabeth was very supportive during the divorce Margaret's children would often stay at her sisters to make things as easy as possible for Margaret Trevor McDonald the queen hints a change but pleads for understanding in 1992 the queen went through what was to be known as her anus horibus it would be a year of great turmoil for the queen three of her children's marriages had broken down prince Andrew with Sarah her daughter Anne with Philip and her first son Charles with Diana to make things harder for the queen Windsor Castle caught on fire towards the end of the year while 1992 was the worst year of the Queen's life and she gave a speech at the mansion house in London towards the end of 92 and she said she was going to refer to the year as an anas aribulus 1992 I shall look back polluted pleasure in the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondence it has turned out to be an Anis horribilius foreign I suspect that I'm not alone in thinking it's so [Music] indeed I suspect that there are very few people or institutions unaffected by these last months of worldwide turmoil and uncertainty this generosity and wholehearted kindness of the corporation of the city to Prince Philip and me would be welcome at any time but at this particular moment in the aftermath of Friday's tragic fire at Windsor it is especially so her daughter's marriage had broken down Fergie and Andrew's marriage had broken down but far the worst thing was the breakdown of the marriage of The Prince and Princess of Wales and the official announcement that they were going to split and then on top of all that came the fire at Windsor Castle on the Queen's anniversary but in court upon a light in the chapel at Windsor Castle and it just blazed and the fire raced through all the state departments it was a huge fire um but lucky very very few things were lost but it was devastating and then the Prime Minister asked the country if they would be prepared to pay for the Reconstruction of Windsor Castle and basically the queen subject said no I mean although Windsor Castle is an official state building not her own the general consensus was that we didn't want to pay for it so then the queen um had to pay tax and it just really wasn't a good year through it all Princess Margaret stayed extremely supportive to the queen helping her through what was an extraordinarily tough year in Elizabeth's life although the queen may not have always approved of her sister's Behavior the two remained very close until Margaret's death in 2002 at the age of 71. their differences never altered the fact that they were sisters one the Queen the other a a princess [Music] [Music] Margaret played an active role in the Royal Family's public work and supported the queen she was the patron or president of over 80 organizations ranging from Children's Charities to ballet companies but as a heavy smoker for many years Margaret suffered repeated respiratory illnesses and even had a part of her lung removed in 1985 just like her father she also had a mild stroke in 1998. shortly before her death Margaret's sight had been impacted by a stroke and she was confined to a wheelchair she died peacefully in 2002. [Music] I know the whole country will be deeply saddened by Princess Margaret's death she will be remembered with a lot of affection before she was ill in the last few years she gave a great deal of service to the country and our thoughts are obviously with queen with the Queen Mother and with all the royal family at this difficult time I mean in the 70s late 70s she contracted hepatitis which of course was a big deal it would it made headlines of course 1985 if memory serves me correctly she had a section of lung removed because there was concern over that it turned out to be benign but she had been a heavy smoker she gave up smoking finally and with great effort in 1994 and later on people say about how much she'd like to drink she did but we have to make the statement that she was certainly not an alcoholic she liked it she liked to drink but she wasn't an alcoholic but I think the cumulative effect of of of that over the years did lead to The Strokes that she had 19 98 she had the first stroke this was Princess Margaret's first high-profile appearance since her stroke in February she wasn't on the official VIP list for the Chelsea flower show which she clearly didn't want to miss the traditional Royal preview after her stroke she did she did try to make a return to public engagements but that was hampered press claimed that she plunged her feet into a bath of scalding water that wasn't true at all and you know who in their right mind plunges their feet into a bar full of scoring water anyway that story just absolutely wasn't true I asked her about us what did happen and she said and this is what she told me and she said I wanted to wash my hair so I got into the bath an empty bath but there was the thermostat was 40. by accident she turned on the bath tap now she had a condition called raynose disease which means that there is a lack of sensitivity a lack of feeling in fingertips and toes and feet and it took some seconds before there was the reaction to this scalding water from the bathtub of course I said to her well just imagine if you'd put on the shower head it would probably have killed you anyway I said well how did you get out and she said I don't know I just don't know so I was told her maid had noticed from the outside from the garden that the bathroom window was still her dad steamed up and her lady in waiting who was holidaying there with her went into the bathroom and found her on sitting on the edge of the bath as read as a beetroot and with these severely damaged feet but so she took a long time to come back from that her feet took a long time to recover and it it really went downhill from from their health deteriorated I think she was always essentially the same person but of course uh the effect of The Strokes you know I think one of the one of them meant that she was paralyzed down the left-hand side and she was partially sighted I I think I'm writing saying she had peripheral View so all of this of course impacted on her and her depression it was in reaction to how she was her physical condition the 70 year old princess who appeared to be quite frail during this appearance in September was visited by doctors twice over the holiday weekend the princess was said to be feeling too tired to join other members of the royal family for the Christmas day service this year although Buckingham Palace is refusing to discuss the nature of her illness her conditions clearly causing concern there was actually no quality of life she didn't see any of her men friends she didn't take any telephone calls the only man friend that she saw tellingly was Roddy Llewellyn he could visit but she didn't want anybody else to see her as she was it was a very sad end to her life so that by the time she did die she she actually was ready to go [Music] a month later the queen mother would die Elizabeth gave a personal video message on her appreciation for the public mourning and love for the Queen Mother it is said that the queen was relieved not to have had to do the same but when her sister died as she felt she may lose her composure Elizabeth is not known to talk too much about her own personal feelings but she was seen wiping a tear from her eye on the day of Margaret's funeral she indicated some love and affection she felt for her sister [Music] the queen was very very close to her mother and her sister so for both of them to pass away within two months of each other was you know a sort of double shock for her and she was still full of grief the whole country was so moved by the passing of the queen mother that the queen actually gave a speech from Windsor thanking everyone for their their concern their good wishes and their loyalty to to her mother ever since my beloved mother died over a week ago I have been deeply moved by the outpouring of affection which has accompanied her death my family and I always knew what she meant for the people of this country and the special place she occupied in the hearts of so many here in the Commonwealth and in other parts of the world but the extent of the tribute that huge numbers of you have paid my mother in the last few days has been overwhelming I have drawn great comfort from so many individual acts of kindness and respect over the years I have met many people who have had to cope with family loss sometimes in the most tragic of circumstances so I count myself fortunate that my mother was blessed with a long and happy life she had an infectious zest for living and this remained with her until the very end [Music] I know too that her faith was always a great strength to her [Music] thank you as years progressed Elizabeth became progressively ill and soon died peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Scotland a death was announced on the 8th of September 2022 her eldest son Charles is now King with an expected coronation date of the 6th of May 2023 the death of her husband Philip in 2021 had really tugged on her last straw at this point she lost her parents her sister and her husband and was very much alone [Music] every step of the way Margaret remained loyal to the queen and was immensely proud of what she achieved throughout her life the queen wanted nothing more than her sister Margaret to lead a happy and fulfilling life as a princess heard King George VI been alive to see these women grow up to lead independent yet close lives his feelings would only grow for his daughters and with Margaret being that support she had always intended to be from such a young age to the queen [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Royalty TV

Views: 800,751

Keywords: diana, princess diana, prince harry, prince william, king charles, charles and diana, kristin stewart, princess of wales, people's princess, royal family, british royal family, history, british history, queen elizabeth ii, queen elizabeth, king charles iii, camilla, queen camilla, duke of sussex, duchess of sussex, meghan markle, duchess meghan, prince andrew, sarah ferguson, prince edward, kate middleton, princess kate, prince of wales, princess margaret, the crown

Id: rBOySDjlEPc

Length: 70min 46sec (4246 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 17 2023