Tragic Things About Princess Margaret

princess margaret was queen elizabeth ii's younger sister and only sibling who seemed to experience many tough times throughout her life while netflix's the crown has delivered a mostly accurate portrayal of margaret's life her true story is well worth knowing being the kid's sister to the eventual queen was not without its challenges the queen a 1996 biography of queen elizabeth ii quotes princess margaret as saying when my sister and i were growing up she was made out to be the goody goody one that was boring so the press tried to make out i was wicked as hell although margaret obviously did not agree with that assessment of her character it's true that she and her sister were opposites christopher warwick author of the authorized biography princess margaret a life of contrasts spoke about the royal siblings relationship during an interview with the cut according to the author the queen even when they were girls always kept an eye on her sister because margaret could be wayward she could be cheeky she could be naughty in terms of personalities elizabeth and margaret were as different as chalk and cheese princess margaret was beloved by her father king george vi as a courtier recalled to the telegraph in 2002 he used to look at her as if he couldn't believe this enchanting thing was his daughter the daughter of one of the late king's courtiers added the observation that quote the king spoiled her dreadfully but if court gossip is to be believed her father was one of the only ones in the royal circle who felt so smitten by her the courtier's daughter revealed the courtiers didn't like her much they found her amusing but she used to keep her parents and everyone waiting for dinner because she wanted to listen to the end of a program on the wireless i remember my father despairing of her even margaret and princess elizabeth ii's governess marion crawford thought the young princess crowded out her older sister according to the telegraph crawford was quoted as saying we really are trying to separate them a bit because princess margaret does draw all the attention and elizabeth lets her do that crawford would even conspire with friends to exclude margaret from party invitations so elizabeth could attend without her king george vi was known to say of his two daughters that elizabeth was his pride and margaret was his joy and just as king george vi loved his girls they too loved him margaret was especially close to the king biographer christopher warwick told the cut the love of her life was one man and he was the man who died before she was 22 and that man was her father the king whom she adored on february 6 1952 king george died suddenly at the age of 56 according to his biography his death was later determined to be caused by a coronary thrombosis sometime before the king had been diagnosed with lung cancer and had one of his lungs removed king george is thought to have passed away in his sleep in the early morning hours the night before he spent time playing with his grandchildren charles and anne and dining with margaret his beloved daughter princess margaret began a secret relationship with group captain peter townsend in the early 50s townsend was married but later divorced his wife and proposed to the princess margaret said yes but they continue to keep their romance quiet if margaret were to marry a divorcee it could appear as if queen elizabeth condone divorce something that was very much disapproved of by the church of england not to mention monumentally scandalous to the press but with their plan to marry the couple couldn't keep it a secret forever due to the royal marriages act of 1772 margaret would need to seek the queen's permission to marry if elizabeth denied her request margaret could then petition parliament after one year's time but this would likely have caused an even larger scandal prolonging the drama in the public eye and doing untold damage to the royal family's image the queen is temporal governor of the church of england and the church of england did not would not recognize divorce in the end margaret and townsend broke up the princess issued a statement saying she'd resolve to put the church's teachings about marriage and her duty to the commonwealth above all else in letters discovered decades later princess margaret revealed to then-prime minister anthony eden in 1955 that she planned to meet with peter townsend in order to properly decide whether she could or could not marry him she revealed in one letter cited by the telegraph the queen of course knows i am writing to you about this but of course no one else does and as everything is so uncertain i know you will regard it certainly as a confidence although margaret may have seemed like she was pushed into breaking off her engagement with townsend these letters prove that margaret made the final decision the princess's authorized biographer christopher warwick confirmed to the cut that quote peter townsend was not the great love of her life still ending the relationship couldn't have been easy especially after the entire world knew of her and townsend's affair a year after issuing a statement about ending her relationship with townsend margaret accepted a marriage proposal from her friend billy wallace according to the telegraph margaret reasoned to her pals that it was better to at least marry someone she liked rather than remain unmarried for any longer congratulations oh christ despite princess margaret's decision to settle for billy wallace the two did not marry according to the telegraph the couple never made a formal engagement announcement because their relationship ended soon after they'd gotten engaged wallace apparently admitted to margaret that he'd had a brief affair while vacationing in the bahamas he is quoted as saying i had my chance and blew it with my big mouth or she would have become mrs wallace and i would have been able to handle her two years later margaret met photographer anthony armstrong jones at a dinner party later armstrong jones was hired to photograph margaret and their romance began and decoursy author of snowden the biography told town and country that the relationship was kept secret saying nobody knew about their relationship there wasn't a whisper about it it was as if they were hiding in plain sight because armstrong jones was not seen as a suitable match for the princess the press didn't think much of him attending parties with margaret when the couple announced their engagement in 1960 royal courtiers were both shocked and displeased they thought margaret should have married someone of her own class not a commoner on may 6 1960 princess margaret and anthony armstrong jones who then became known as lord snowden married but unfortunately the princess didn't get her happily ever after and of course he confirmed to town and country the first few years were wonderful they had a lot in common there was banter between them he would help her with her speeches the couple was perhaps too similar in some ways both being strong-willed and used to getting what they wanted and then work started to get in the way in 1962 margaret's husband took a job as the artistic advisor for the sunday times he set up a workshop in the basement of kensington palace but rather than using that as an opportunity to spend more time with margaret instead he seemed to be more focused on his work in 1961 before their relationship took a turn for the worse anthony armstrong jones and princess margaret welcomed their first child david soon after their second child sarah was born in 1964 though their relationship began faltering according to the evening standard margaret caught her husband talking on the phone to a woman and it was clear that they were more than just friends it seems while armstrong jones was away for work he was also involved in a series of flings with other women but as upsetting as the affairs were to margaret she wasn't without her own share of guilt according to anne decourcy margaret also engaged in her own set of affairs both armstrong jones and margaret continued to have their separate affairs into the 70s but they were able to keep their liaisons from the press that is until margaret and her lover landscape gardener roddy llewellyn were photographed vacationing together in the caribbean and before long their images were plastered on the covers of tabloids soon after princess margaret's affair with roddy llewellyn was made public anthony armstrong jones and the princess announced their separation some years later in 1978 the couple revealed that they would be divorcing the princess's spokesman told the new york times the marriage has broken down and the couple have lived apart for two years these are obviously the grounds for divorce naturally princess margaret and lord snowden will continue to see each other on the same friendly basis as they have with each other over the last two years when news of her affair broke a member of parliament dubbed margaret a parasite while another labeled the princess an embarrassment to the whole nation and that's just the kinds of things they said about her before she filed for divorce after the divorce announcement was made public john lee a labour party legislator said he planned to question parliament about margaret's titles and funds as the new york times noted at the time that is a polite way of saying that mr lee will demand a cut in her salary which is paid by parliament and possibly a change in her royal position princess margaret did not lose her royal title after divorcing anthony armstrong jones but she did lose and miss out on a lot of other things throughout her life royal expert ingrid c word told express when you look at princess margaret she never found the happiness she should have done she was always completely in the shadow of her elder sister because her elder sister was queen and princess anne said she used to feel like an also ran that is a loser although she loved her big sis dearly margaret also felt that she could never quite compare to the queen a confidant of margaret later quoted her as saying i guess i'll be second best to my grave princess margaret's life was not only marred by tragedy but also by poor mental and physical health as her marriage was collapsing in the 70s margaret was reported to have suffered a nervous breakdown margaret was also a heavy drinker which led her to developing hepatitis in the mid-80s in addition to drinking heavily margaret was a chain smoker reportedly picking up the habit in her teenage years after her father passed away margaret began to smoke even more having as many as 60 cigarettes a day by the early aughts margaret had suffered a cancer scare repeated migraines the aforementioned hepatitis bronchitis laryngitis pneumonia and several strokes in 2002 after developing heart complications from a fourth stroke at the age of 71 it was announced that margaret died peacefully in her sleep margaret's funeral was held on the 50th anniversary of her father's death and at the same location saint george's chapel in windsor you can't comb through princess margaret's life and ignore all the ways in which it was affected by tragedies but that doesn't mean margaret's life was all dark all the time although christopher warwick her authorized biographer did confirm that margaret ended up alone in the end there is more to her story than just her failed relationships and heartbreak warwick told the cut it's sad but the idea that she was a sad woman simply is not true there were times when she was very very lonely but my goodness she was a lady who loved life and enjoyed friends we've all gone through sad and unhappy times in our life and she was no different warwick claimed that she was not at all a sad or tragic character despite enduring all of her many tragedies she did not give them the power to define her check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more list 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Channel: The List

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Id: Tv1XsSDZZhc

Length: 11min 50sec (710 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 09 2020