Let’s start from the beginning of her life. Margaret was born on 21 august 1930 at Glamis Castle in Scotland, in her mother’s ancestral home, and was affectionately known as Margot within the royal family. As per the royal rule, some particular people and caretakers are appointed to be at the place or room where the royal mother gives birth to take care of the child and mother and accurately note the time and gender of the baby. The home secretary J.R Clynes, was present at the time of Margaret's birth to verify the birth. The registration of her birth had been delayed for several days to avoid her being numbered 13 in the parish register because in some cultures 13 is known to be an unlucky number. She was the fourth legal successor in the line of succession to the British throne. Her father was the Duke of York the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The Duchess of York originally wanted to name her second daughter Ann Margaret, as she explained to queen Marry in a letter “ I am very anxious to call her Ann Margaret, as I think Ann of York sounds pretty and Elizabeth and Ann go so well together”. King George V disliked the idea of naming her Ann but approved of the alternative “Margaret Rose”.
- Education
She was educated alongside her sisters, Princess Elizabeth, by their Scottish governess Marion Crawford. Her education was mainly supervised by her mother, who in the words of Randolph Churchill “never aimed at bringing her daughters up to be more than nicely behaved young ladies”. When Queen Marry insisted upon the importance of education, the Duchess of York commented “I don’t know what she meant, after all I and my sisters only had governesses and we all married well- one of us very well”. However, Margaret’s mother told a friend that she “regretted” that her daughters did not go to school like other children, and the employment of a governess rather than sending the girls to school may have been done only at the insistence of King George. V. J.M Barrie, the famous author of Peter Pan, read stories to the sisters as children.
- HER
RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FATHER
- WHO WAS PETER TOWNSEND AND HOW HE RELATES TO PETER TOWNSEND?
After the king’s death, Townsend was appointed comptroller of Margaret’s mother’s restricted household. During the war, the king suggested choosing palace helpers who were highly qualified men from the military, instead of only aristocrats. Told that some a handsome war hero had arrived, the princesses met the new equerry (an officer of the British royal household in personal attendance on the sovereign or a member of the royal family) on his first day at Buckingham Palace in 1944, Elizabeth reportedly told her sister 13 years old”, “bad luck, he is married”. A temporary assignment of three months from the RAF became permanent. George VI and the queen mother were fond of Townsend, the king reportedly saw the calm and efficient combat veteran as the son he never had. He may have been aware of his daughter’s love with the non-titled and non-wealthy Townsend, reportedly seeing the courtier reluctantly obey the princess’s order to carry her up palace stairs after a party. When their relationship started was unclear as they both have a different answer to this question. The princess said that she fell in love with the equerry Peter Townsend during the 1947 South Africa tour, where they often went riding together. Margaret biographer Craig Brown stated that, according to a national trust curator, Townsend requested the bedroom next to hers during a trip to Belfast in October 1947. Townsend said that his love for Margaret began in august 1951 when the princess woke him from a nap after a picnic lunch while the king watched. When he returned back to Britain he married Miss Cecil Rosemary Pawle after a short engagement ceremony. The couple had two sons, but his divorced status eventually made it impossible for Margaret to marry him, as both the Church of England and parliament suggested they were firmly against the match. It is also assumed that it was the beauty and sense of humor of Margaret which impressed Peter. She had beautiful features like short, slender figure and centered about large purple-blue eyes, generous behavior, sensitive lips, and a complexion as smooth as a peach”, Peter is said to have recalled”. She could make you bend double with laughing and also touch you deeply in your heart”, he added. Townsend was 15 years older than Margaret and had two children from his previous marriage. Margaret accepted and informed her sister, the queen, whose consent was required by the royal marriages act 1772. As during the abdication crisis, the church of England refused to countenance the remarriage of the divorced Queen Marry had recently died, and after the coronation of Elizabeth II, the new queen planned to tour the commonwealth for six months. She told her sister, “under the circumstances, it isn’t unreasonable for me to ask you to wait a year”, and to keep the relationship secret until after the coronation. After so much effort and patience they were unable to get married because the British parliament disapproved of the marriage and even after if she did get married she would be exceeded from the line of succession and restricted from any royal allowance.
- MARRIAGE
Billy
Wallace later said that "The thing with Townsend was a girlish nonsense
that got out of hand. It was never the big thing on her part that people
claim". Margaret accepted one of Wallace's many proposals to marry, but
the engagement ended before the announcement when he admitted to a romance in the
Bahamas; "I had my chance and blew it with my big mouth", Wallace
said.
Margaret met the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones at a
supper party in 1958. They became engaged in October 1959. Armstrong-Jones
proposed to Margaret with a ruby engagement ring surrounded by diamonds in the
shape of a rosebud. She reportedly accepted his proposal a day after learning
from Townsend that he intended to marry a young Belgian woman, Marie-Luce
Jamagne, who was half his age and greatly resembled Margaret. Margaret's
announcement of her engagement, on 26 February 1960, surprised the press, as
she had concealed the romance from reporters.
Margaret married Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 1960. The ceremony was the first royal wedding to be broadcast on television, and it attracted viewing figures of 300 million worldwide. 2,000 guests were invited to the wedding ceremony.
Margaret's wedding dress was designed by Norman Hartnell and worn with the Poltimore tiara. She had eight young bridesmaids, led by her niece, Princess Anne. The Duke of Edinburgh escorted the bride, and the best man was Dr. Roger Gilliatt. The Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher conducted the marriage service. Following the ceremony, the couple made the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The honeymoon was a six-week Caribbean cruise aboard the royal yacht Britannia. As a wedding present, Colin Tennant gave her a plot of land on his private Caribbean island, Mustique. The newlyweds moved into rooms in Kensington Palace.
In 1961, Margaret's husband has created Earl of Snowdon.
The couple had two children (both born by Caesarean section at Margaret's
request) David, born 3 November 1961, and Sarah, born 1 May 1964.
- HER CHARITY WORK
Her main
interests were welfare charities, music, and ballet. She was president of the
National Society and of the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children and Invalid Children's Aid Nationwide (also called 'I
CAN'). She was Grand President of the St John Ambulance Brigade and
Colonel-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. She was also
the president or patron of numerous organizations, such as the West Indies
Olympic Association, the Girl Guides, Northern Ballet Theatre, Birmingham Royal
Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Children 1st, Tenovus Cancer Care, the Royal College
of Nursing, and the London Lighthouse (an AIDS charity that has since merged
with the Terrence Higgins Trust). At some points, Margaret was criticized for
not being as active as other members of the royal family.
In her
private life she had been rumored to have affairs with many famous men some
extramarital and some after separation from his husband in the early 1970s.
- HER DETERIORATING HEALTH
The Princess's later life was marred by illness and
disability. She had smoked cigarettes since the age of 15 or earlier and had
continued to smoke heavily for many years. On 5 January 1985, she had part of
her left lung removed; the operation drew parallels with that of her father
over 30 years earlier. In 1991, she gave up smoking, though she continued to
drink heavily. In 1992 Margaret met Townsend, for the last time before his
death in 1995; she said that he looked "exactly the same, except he had
grey hair".
In January
1993, she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. She experienced a mild stroke
on 23 February 1998 at her holiday home in Mustique. Early the following year
the Princess suffered severe scalds to her feet in a bathroom accident, which
affected her mobility in that she required support when walking and sometimes
used a wheelchair. She was hospitalized on 10 January 2001 due to loss of
appetite and swallowing problems, after a further stroke. By March 2001,
strokes had left her with partial vision and paralysis on the left side.
Margaret's last public appearances were at the 101st birthday celebrations of
her mother in August 2001 and the 100th birthday celebration of her aunt,
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, that December.
Princess
Margaret died in the King Edward VII's Hospital, London, at 06:30 (GMT) on 9
February 2002 at age 71, one day after having suffered another stroke that
resulted in cardiac problems and three days after the 50th anniversary of her
father's death. The Prince of Wales paid tribute to his aunt in a television
broadcast.
Margaret's
coffin, draped in her personal standard, was taken from Kensington Palace to St
James's Palace before her funeral. The funeral was held on 15 February 2002,
the 50th anniversary of her father's funeral. In line with her wishes, the
ceremony was a private service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, for
family and friends. Unlike most other members of the royal family, Princess
Margaret was cremated, at Slough Crematorium. Her ashes were placed in the tomb
of her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (who died
seven weeks after Margaret), in the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St
George's Chapel two months later. A state memorial service was held at
Westminster Abbey on 19 April 2002.
Her life had
been like a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs but unlike other royals
she enjoyed her life without caring about the mad rumors which revolve around her because, in the end, all that matters is whether you enjoyed your life or not.
Comments