the queen's sister princess margaret

Princess Margaret

The younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret drew attention for a personal life marked by controversial relationships.

(1930-2002)

Who Was Princess Margaret?

Early years.

Princess Margaret Rose was born on August 21, 1930, at Glamis Castle, Scotland, the second daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York. Following the abdication of Edward VIII to marry American Wallis Simpson, her parents were crowned King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.

As a child, Margaret enjoyed swimming and displayed a talent for the piano. She was educated at Buckingham Palace but moved to Windsor Castle upon the outbreak of World War II .

Controversial Romance

Following the war, Margaret appeared in the public eye more frequently. Oft contrasted with her older sister, Elizabeth, the glamorous young beauty developed a reputation as an independent spirit who enjoyed socializing late into the night.

Margaret soon grew close to Group Captain Peter Townsend, a war hero and royal equerry, and their secret relationship was revealed at the coronation of her sister, Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. However, Townsend was an older man and a recent divorcé, and the relationship was said to be frowned upon by the Church and Parliament.

The Queen and Prime Minister Anthony Eden eventually reached an agreement in which Margaret could marry Townsend in exchange for forfeiting her rights to succession. Ultimately, Margaret chose not to follow through with the arrangement, and she announced her split from Townsend in October 1955.

READ MORE: The Ups and Downs of Princess Margaret's Love Life

Marriage and Scandal

Princess Margaret eventually struck up a relationship with photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was appointed 1st Earl of Snowdon following their marriage in May 1960. Their son, David Albert Charles, was born in November 1961, and daughter, Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth, followed in May 1964.

By the late 1960s, Margaret and Lord Snowdon's high-profile union was rumored to be on the rocks. Although they remained married, Margaret developed a relationship with a younger landscape gardener named Roddy Llewellyn, which became known to the public when the two were photographed together on vacation in early 1976.

The press, which was already grumbling about the princess's diminishing public appearances, pounced on the affair. Margaret and Lord Snowdon separated shortly after the scandal reached headlines, and in May 1978 they completed their divorce, the first by a British royal couple in 400 years.

READ MORE: Princess Margaret: What Really Happened on Her 1965 Tour of the United States

Charities and Honors

Although she drew the most attention for her extravagant lifestyle, Princess Margaret was involved with more than 80 charities and organizations. Among them, she served as president of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and president of the Royal Ballet.

Additionally, Margaret was appointed commander in chief of several military units, including the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars. She was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1953 and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem three years later, and was awarded the Royal Victorian Chain in 1990.

Health Problems and Death

Like her father and following years of heavy smoking , Princess Margaret underwent an operation to remove part of her left lung in early 1985. In 1993, she contracted pneumonia.

No longer the subject of media scrutiny, Margaret withdrew into private life as the tabloids focused on Princess Diana and a younger generation of royals. She dealt with increasing health problems in later years, enduring a series of strokes and an accident with scalding bathwater. After her third stroke, the princess died on February 9, 2002, in London.

More than a decade later, Princess Margaret figured prominently in The Crown , a popular drama about the British monarchy during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Additionally, the 2018 documentary series Elizabeth: Our Queen included a segment in which big sister revealed her approval of Margaret's relationship with Roddy Llewellyn, because "he made her really happy."

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Margaret Rose
• Birth Year: 1930
• Birth date: August 21, 1930
• Birth City: Glamis Castle, Angus
• Birth Country: Scotland
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: The younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret drew attention for a personal life marked by controversial relationships.
• Politics and Government
• World Politics
• Astrological Sign: Leo
• Death Year: 2002
• Death date: February 9, 2002
• Death City: London
• Death Country: England

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Princess Margaret Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/royalty/princess-margaret
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: April 15, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

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The True Story of Princess Margaret's Death

Queen Elizabeth's sister passed away in 2002 after a series of strokes.

To announce Margaret's passing, Buckingham Palace issued the following statement : "The Queen, with great sadness, has asked for the following announcement to be made immediately. Her beloved sister, Princess Margaret, died peacefully in her sleep this morning at 6.30am, in The King Edward VII Hospital. Her children, Lord Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto , were at her side."

The Palace added, "Princess Margaret suffered a further stroke yesterday afternoon. She developed cardiac problems during the night and was taken from Kensington Palace to The King Edward VII Hospital at 2.30am. Lord Linley and Lady Sarah were with her, and The Queen was kept fully informed throughout the night."

The Queen Mother's official residence, Clarence House, said in a statement, "The Queen Mother has been told of the sad news of the death of Princess Margaret and she is deeply saddened." Just 49 days later, the Queen Mother would pass away, at age 101. The two deaths were devastating for Queen Elizabeth, and losing her sister and her mother in such quick succession had a deep impact on her.

As the show depicts, Princess Margaret suffered a series of strokes before her death, beginning in 1998. In 1999, while vacationing on her beloved Mustique , she burned her feet badly in a bath, greatly impacted her mobility. In December 2000, she was thought to have another stroke while at Sandringham for Christmas. According to CNN , before her death she suffered at least two strokes, and she was confined to a wheelchair in the final years of her life.

Her last public appearance was at Princess Alice's 100th birthday party in December 2001:

Princess Margaret's funeral was held at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, and it was attended by all the members of the royal family, including her sister and her children.

In a break from tradition, Princess Margaret was cremated . "Princess Margaret was cremated, one of the first members of the royal family, because she wanted to be buried between her parents and there was only room, really, for ashes," Lady Glenconner, a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, explained in the documentary Elizabeth: Our Queen . Her final resting place is Windsor Castle's King George VI Memorial Chapel , along with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and as of last year, her sister, Queen Elizabeth .

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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All About Queen Elizabeth's Sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's father, King George VI, famously described the sisters, "Lilibet is my pride; Margaret is my joy"

Contributor, PEOPLE

Princess Margaret led quite an interesting life.

She had impeccable style, often dressing in Christian Dior , and was known as the Rebel Royal and the Queen of Shade. But to her older sister, Queen Elizabeth II , she was just "Margot." The Queen — who was privately called "Lilibet" by those closest to her — and Princess Margaret were beloved by their parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother. In fact, their father famously described them, "Lilibet is my pride; Margaret is my joy."

The Countess of Snowdon "was someone who understood the Queen in a way no one else could," royal biographer Andrew Morton, author of Elizabeth & Margaret: the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters , told PEOPLE. "They knew each other intimately from the day they were born. There is a unique intimacy between two siblings brought up together, brought up royal together, that is absolutely fascinating."

For more on Queen Elizabeth's funeral, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

She has been compared to her great-nephew Prince Harry , who stepped down as a working royal in 2020 after marrying Meghan Markle . Princess Margaret ultimately chose duty over marriage with the divorced Peter Townsend in 1955, as seen in Netflix's The Crown .

"Margaret put duty before herself," Morton added.

In her later years, Princess Margaret experienced health problems and suffered several strokes before her death on Feb. 9, 2002. She was 71 years old.

Here's everything to know about Princess Margaret and her relationship with her sister, Queen Elizabeth .

She often dressed identically to Queen Elizabeth as a child

Princess Margaret often dressed in identical outfits with Queen Elizabeth when they were younger. On Mother's Day in the U.K. in March 2022, The Royal Family Instagram account shared a beautiful throwback picture of the sisters and their mother. In it, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II wore matching jackets over collared shirts, with their short brown hair in identical curly bobs.

Supposedly, the Queen Mother dressed the sisters in matching outfits often to avoid sibling rivalry.

"You have to remember, there [were] four years between those two girls. If you told a 12-year-old that they had to dress like their 8-year-old sister, I think, there'd be a little bit of rebellion going on," royal author Bethan Holt told 9honey . "Elizabeth was very good and her and Margaret were always dressed in matching outfits."

Holt explained this was a way to show that their parents loved them equally. "I think that that really helped to show that, you know, in their parents' eyes, they were considered equals," she continued. "While Elizabeth had this, you know, incredibly important destiny ahead of her, she really needed to remember, as well, that her and her sister were sisters, they needed to be there for each other [and] dressing the same created this lovely sense of family."

She was "terribly loyal" to the Queen, despite some jealousy

Princess Margaret was close with her sister, even though they had some sibling rivalry. "She was terribly loyal to the Queen — and being five years younger, I think it would have been much more difficult if she had been just [a little] younger than the Queen," Anne Glenconner, Margaret's lady-in-waiting who wrote the memoir Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown , told PEOPLE. "There would have been more rivalry. She never said anything."

All siblings get jealous of each other every now and then, and that was true for Princess Margaret as well, who did not get the same education as her older sister.

"She always minded about not being educated as well as the Queen," Glenconner told PEOPLE . "The Queen had people from Eton and Cambridge, naturally. But Princess Margaret was never part of that."

Despite the differences, Margaret still had an excellent education. "[Margaret] had a governess and was taught to play the piano and speak French," Glenconner added. "She was very well read and would have really enjoyed being educated in a more stringent fashion."

Queen Elizabeth 's education was Margaret's first clue that her sister was different.

"She said to me, 'That was the first time I sort of thought or realized that my sister was going to be Queen and I wouldn't really be part of what she was going to do,' " Glenconner said in a 2018 documentary called Margaret: The Rebel Princess . "It hit her quite hard that their lives were going to be completely different."

After the release of Prince Harry 's memoir, Spare , Glennconner spoke again about the Countess of Snowdon and compared her to Harry .

"I knew Princess Margaret very, very well. And of course, she was a spare for quite a long time. But I mean, she was always completely loyal to the Queen," she told PEOPLE in an interview published Feb. 21, 2023.

She continued, "The only thing I ever heard her complain about was that she wish she'd been better educated," adding, "But otherwise, I mean, there was no whinging, no complaining."

She joined her sister for their first public speech and first official overseas visit

Long before she became Queen, a 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first public speech on Oct. 13, 1940, with a 10-year-old Margaret by her side.

The sisters gave a radio address on BBC's Children's Hour , to boost morale. "Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes and be separated from your fathers and mothers. My sister Margaret Rose and I feel so much for you as we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all," said the then-Princess Elizabeth.

At the end, she brought Margaret on to say goodnight. "My sister is by my side and we are both going to say goodnight to you. Come on, Margaret," Elizabeth said.

Margaret said, "Goodnight, children."

"Goodnight, and good luck to you all," the future Queen added.

Margaret also went with her sister and their parents for the sisters' first official overseas visit in 1947. The then-Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret toured Southern Africa.

She acted in Christmas pantomimes with Queen Elizabeth during World War II

Princess Margaret shared a love of the arts with Queen Elizabeth . When they were teenagers, a 14-year-old Princess Margaret played the Honourable Lucinda Fairfax and an 18-year-old future Queen Elizabeth played Lady Christina Sherwood in the Old Mother Red Riding Boots play. The 1944 performance was held at Windsor Castle for Armed Forces personnel and local children as a way to boost morale during World War II.

The sisters actually performed in a series of pantomimes (or slapstick-style shows, a British holiday tradition) from 1941 to 1944 to raise money for the Royal Household Wool Fund, which was used to make comforters for soldiers. This included Aladdin in 1943, in which then-Princess Elizabeth played the titular character and Princess Margaret played Princess Roxana. Six costumes from the Christmas plays were on display at Windsor Castle for the first time from November 2021 to January 2022.

Her love of the arts continued into adulthood, too. Princess Margaret was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music of London University and became the first president of the Royal Ballet (where the Queen was a patron) in 1957. Additionally, she was president of the Sadler's Wells Foundation , a leading dance organization that helped launch the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera.

In 1984, the royal guest starred on BBC Radio 4's soap opera, The Archers , where she played herself at a fundraising fashion show. She recorded her lines in a makeshift recording studio in the library at Kensington Palace.

"Producer William Smethurst said the Princess quickly mastered the microphone techniques required for radio drama," revealed the BBC .

This was the first time a member of the royal family was part of a BBC drama.

She liked to start her day with cigarettes, alcohol and a long bath

When Margaret was 25, she would start her day with breakfast in bed and spend about two hours listening to the radio, reading newspapers and chain-smoking, according to an excerpt from Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown. After that, she would take an hour-long bath run for her by her lady's maid, then have her hair and makeup done at noon. A vodka pick-me-up usually followed.

Brown also wrote that Margaret loved drinking and smoking so much that she "tried to combine the smoking and drinking by gluing matchboxes onto tumblers, so she could strike matches while drinking," per Vogue .

She was able to give up both drinking and smoking, though. "When she had to give up smoking and drinking more or less at the same time, I admired her and asked her, 'Is it very hard?' She said, 'No, Anne, once I make up my mind to do something I do it,' " her lady-in-waiting Glenconner told PEOPLE. "She was practical like that."

She canceled her wedding to Captain Peter Townsend in 1955

As famously depicted in The Crown , Margaret had a relationship with Captain Peter Townsend , who was the equerry to King George VI. This likely started when she was a teenager, and he was married with two kids.

In Ma'am Darling , Brown shared that Margaret and Townsend may have already been seeing each other in October 1947, when she was 17 and he was 32. He accompanied Margaret to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where official papers documenting the visit revealed that Townsend had asked for adjoining rooms with Margaret during their stay at Hillsborough Castle. There is no proof that anything romantically happened between them, however.

Earlier the same year, Townsend accompanied the family to South Africa, where his official job was to look after Margaret. She reportedly said that this was the trip where she fell in love .

"We rode together every morning in that wonderful country, in marvelous weather," she said. "That's when I really fell in love with him."

Townsend divorced his wife in 1952, and rumors of his relationship with Princess Margaret began at the Queen's coronation in 1953. Margaret flicked a piece of fluff off Townsend's jacket in an intimate gesture that a reporter noticed.

In 1953, Townsend proposed to Princess Margaret, who said yes. However, under the 1772 Royal Marriages Act , the Queen would have to give her permission as well. She recommended Margaret wait until after she turned 25 and would no longer need the Queen's permission; however, Parliament denied Margaret's marriage request, eventually leading the Princess to choose royal duties over love.

"I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage," Margaret said in a statement on BBC Radio on Oct. 31, 1955. "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."

Townsend married Marie-Luce Jamagne in 1959 and Margaret married society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in May 1960.

She wed Antony Armstong-Jones in 1960, although they divorced in 1978

Margaret married Armstrong-Jones , who later was named the Earl of Snowdon by the Queen, in 1960. He was the first "commoner" to marry into the royal family in over 400 years.

The couple went on to have two kids together: David Armstrong-Jones in 1961 and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones in 1964. However, their marriage was riddled with infidelities on both sides.

In 1973, Princess Margaret had an affair with landscaper Roddy Llewellyn. The two were photographed on a beach together in Mustique in February 1976, when Margaret was still married to Armstrong-Jones. Less than a month later, the palace announced their separation, and their divorce was finalized two years later.

In the Elizabeth: Our Queen documentary, Glenconner revealed that she introduced Margaret to Roddy .

"It was difficult for the Queen and I felt rather guilty always having introduced Roddy to Princess Margaret," she said in the documentary. "But after Princess Margaret's funeral, the Queen, she said, 'I'd just like to say, Anne, it was rather difficult at moments, but I thank you so much introducing Princess Margaret to Roddy 'cause he made her really happy.' "

They were together for eight years . Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret in season 3 of The Crown , met Llewellyn in real life , telling the Sunday Times about the couple: "He said they found each other just at the right time. They were both very lost, both felt somewhat outsiders, just not quite accepted by the family — or not quite good enough. Her confidence was really undermined by the breakdown of her marriage. He also gave her fun at a time when she hadn't been having much."

She was known for her sharp tongue and wild parties

Princess Margaret was married to Armstrong-Jones in the swinging '60s, where they were known for their fabulous parties at Kensington Palace, which included appearances from actor Peter Sellers and The Beatles.

"Stories about them were legion, with their star-studded parties at Kensington Palace," said royal biographer Christopher Warwick, who wrote Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts . "If you were invited by them, you were being invited to breathe in rarified air."

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How did Princess Margaret die? What to know about her final days and cremation

Throughout past seasons of Netflix’s “The Crown,” Queen Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret, is depicted mainly as the life of any party. The charming and witty royal, so far portrayed by actors Vanessa Kirby and Helena Bonham Carter, can be seen winning over every audience — often with a gin and tonic in one hand and a smoldering cigarette in the other.

How much Margaret’s habits contributed to her health struggles later in life has long been discussed among those who knew her well.

Last season of “The Crown” left viewers with the impression of an ill-at-ease princess who enjoyed her drink but also began seeking treatment for depression. Season 5 will peer into this later half of Princess Margaret’s life with Lesley Manville portraying her. 

With the latest season debuting, here is everything to know about the princess’s health in the lead-up to her death and the details around her final days.

How old was Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, when she died?

Princess Margaret died at 71 on Feb. 9, 2002, at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London. 

What contributed to Princess Margaret's poor health in late life?

Princess Margaret’s later years were plagued with various health ailments, some of which, according to New York Times , included migraines, bronchitis, hepatitis and laryngitis.

According to the BBC, in 1985, the royal — who smoked heavily throughout her life — had a small portion in order to test for cancer. of her left lung surgically removed. The princess reportedly gave up smoking in 1993 after having pneumonia. In addition, she experienced a mild stroke in 1998 while dining with friends at her vacation home in Mustique.

Following the news of her death in 2002, the Guardian reported that she would experience two other strokes before the final one the day before her death.

What happened with Queen Margaret and the bathtub?

Season Six of “The Crown” includes a harrowing episode in Princess Margaret’s life which took place in 1999 and was covered in the press at the time.

In the episode, actor Lesley Manville depicts the late princess three years before her death in 2002. During the scene, the princess steps into a hot bath and is unable to get out, scalding her feet.

In reality, the princess did severely burn her feet after she stepped into a bath at her home in Mustique. The Royal Family’s official website notes in her biography that the incident so affected her mobility that she would later need “support when walking and was sometimes restricted to a wheelchair.”

What caused Princess Margaret’s death?

At the time of Princess Margaret’s death, newspapers noted that her death came on the heels of her longtime struggle with heart and lung problems.

Others believed her self-indulgent lifestyle may have contributed. Friends of the royal, however, refuted those claims in a  piece for The Guardian published a week after she died.

At the time, the princess’s friends argued on her behalf, underlining that she grew up in an era when smoking and drinking regularly were part of the norm.

"Of course, the princess grew up in an age where drinking and smoking was much more acceptable," a friend explained. "We all did. However, I don’t believe she was addicted to alcohol. It’s preposterous. She just got very used to it."

Margaret died in 2002 after a series of heart and lung-related illnesses. In 1985, the princess, who was a heavy smoker, had surgery to remove part of her left lung, according to a Washington Post obituary . From 1998 until 2001, she had several strokes that impacted her sight and mobility. In 1999, she severely scalded her feet in a hot bath , which also impacted her ability to walk. She suffered a stroke the day before her death and had developed heart problems, The New York Times reported .

Why was Princess Margaret cremated?

In the aftermath of her death, “royal watchers” told  The New York Times  that Princess Margaret had opted to be cremated so that her remains could fit alongside her father King George VI’s grave in a vault that was made especially to hold him specifically.

In keeping with her rebellious reputation, the princess  broke from what was typically expected of a royal family member and chose to be cremated. Her cremation took place at Slough crematorium.

According to  The Guardian , the princess was the first member of the royal family to be cremated in the century since the procedure became legal.

Did Queen Elizabeth cry at Princess Margaret’s funeral?

While attending her sister Princess Margaret’s funeral at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II openly showed her grief over her loss.

A 2016  Vanity Fair article written by Reinaldo Herrera, a friend of the sisters, described the queen's unconventional show of emotion.

“The queen lost her most intimate companion,” Herrera wrote. “Never explaining anything to the world—what she feels, or why she does what she does—is part of her greatness. But for a few minutes that day, as she stood by the steps of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, watching her sister’s coffin being borne away, her eyes betrayed her.”

Alex Portée is a senior trending reporter at TODAY Digital and is based in Los Angeles.

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The Queen's "rebel sister": 13 facts about Princess Margaret

Princess Margaret Rose Windsor (1930–2002), Countess of Snowdon and the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, was arguably one of the most popular royals in modern history. Known for her rebellious nature and determined personality, she made headlines around the world for her 'party-girl' lifestyle and her relationship with her father's equerry Group Captain Peter Townsend – a romance that featured in the blockbuster Netflix series The Crown . But how much do you know about the royal?

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Here, we bring you everything you need to know about the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret…

Long before the rebellious Prince Harry came on to the scene, Princess Margaret – the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II – established herself as the royal family’s ‘wild child’. Known in the press for her vivacious personality and antics, Margaret was an enthusiastic ‘party princess’ – drinking, smoking and cultivating friendships with a variety of celebrities, actors and musicians.

It is arguably these elements of Margaret’s personality and lifestyle that make her such a fan-favourite on the award-winning Netflix drama The Crown (in which she is played by actresses Vanessa Kirby and Helena Bonham Carter). But how much do you know about the Queen’s sister? We bring you the facts…

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon: key facts

Princess margaret was the first member of the british royal family to be born in scotland for more than 300 years.

Princess Margaret was born on 21 August 1930 in Glamis Castle, Scotland, the family seat on her mother’s side. At the time of her birth, she was fourth in line to the throne through her father, Bertie (later King George VI). Although her parents hoped to call her Ann, the name was vetoed by her grandfather King George V, so they instead opted for the name Margaret Rose – which was later affectionately shortened to “Margot” by those close to her. According to the Independent , the registration of Margaret’s birth was delayed for several days to “avoid her being number 13 in the parish register”.

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Margaret has a number of other ‘royal firsts’ linked to her name: her wedding to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 was the first British royal wedding to be broadcast on national television, while her divorce, 18 years later in 1978, was the first for a senior royal since Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Victoria Melita ended her marriage to Ernest of Hesse in 1901.

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Margaret had a close relationship with her sister, Queen Elizabeth II – but fought with her as a child

Margaret and Elizabeth enjoyed a relatively ordinary upbringing for children of their wealth and social position, and like many sisters with a close age gap they weren’t averse to a bit of sibling rivalry. Marion Crawford, who worked for 17 years as a governess for the family, wrote in an unauthorised biography titled The Little Princesses that they were “two entirely normal and healthy” little girls. “Neither was above taking a whack at her adversary if roused,” she disclosed. “Lilibet [Elizabeth] was quick with her left hook. Margaret was more of a close-in fighter, known to bite on occasions.”

Biting aside, the pair maintained a close relationship into adulthood. Margaret served as a bridesmaid during Elizabeth’s marriage to Prince Philip in 1947, while Elizabeth gifted Margaret a 20-room apartment at Kensington Palace following the latter’s wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. According to Vanity Fair , Margaret installed a direct line to Buckingham Palace from her desk at Kensington Palace, thereby allowing the two sisters to frequently call one another.

Margaret had nightmares of disappointing the Queen

Although their relationship was extremely close, being the sister of a reigning monarch may have taken its toll on Margaret. According to the journalist Craig Brown, author of Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret , the princess had recurring nightmares about disappointing Elizabeth. When a novelist asked Margaret if she ever dreamt about the Queen, Margaret replied that she had nightmares of being “disapproved of”.

• Read more | The young Elizabeth II: life before she was Queen

Margaret enjoyed a decadent lifestyle

As might be expected for a member of the royal family, Margaret lived a life of luxury. According to Brown, an average morning for the princess in her mid-20s began with breakfast in bed and finished with a “vodka pick-me-up” and four-course lunch:

Luxurious though it might have been, Margaret’s lifestyle was anything but dull.

“Even by the standards of the British royal family in the 20th century, Margaret’s life had a soap-opera quality,” writes Dominic Sandbrook in an article for BBC History Magazine . He adds: “It was not a comparison she would have enjoyed, since almost everybody who met her commented on her herculean, world-class snobbery.”

Margaret was known for being rude

Tales of Margaret’s rudeness are well-documented in the media; indeed, it has been alleged that some of her staff nicknamed her ‘Her Rude Highness’. A popular story often cited about the royal involves a dinner party in which Margaret was sat next to the supermodel Twiggy. The princess is said to have ignored her for several hours before turning to the model and asking, “And who are you?”

“I’m Lesley Hornby, ma’am, but people call me Twiggy,” Twiggy replied.

“How unfortunate,” Margaret is said to have responded.

Margaret’s reputation for brutal honesty follows her even to this day. Following the casting of Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret for season three and four of Netflix drama The Crown, reports surfaced that the actress had discussed her part in the historical drama with none other than the deceased royal herself, via a psychic.

“Apparently, she [Margaret] was glad it was me,” Bonham Carter revealed at Cheltenham Literature Festival. “My main thing when you play someone who is real, you kind of want their blessing because you have a responsibility.

“I asked her: ‘Are you OK with me playing you?’ and she said: ‘You’re better than the other actress’… that they were thinking of. They will not admit who it was. It was me and somebody else. That made me think maybe she is here, because that is a classic Margaret thing to say.”

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Margaret fell in love with an older man who may or may not have been married at the start of their relationship

Unlike her sister Elizabeth, Margaret was under no immediate pressure to marry. In her early twenties, she began a relationship with her father’s equerry, Group Captain Peter Townsend – a man 16 years her senior. Townsend had two children with his wife, Rosemary Pawle, and was considered – at least by royal standards – a commoner on a modest income. For the young princess, their relationship was her first experience of romantic love.

• Read more | “Cheap men and expensive bottles”: Princess Margaret’s love affairs

Although Margaret’s relationship with Peter Townsend is frequently referred to as an ‘affair’, it is not clear when they started their romance. Townsend divorced in 1952, and some sources suggest that he didn’t become close to Margaret until after the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952.

Margaret chose her “duty to the Commonwealth” over marrying for love

Margaret’s relationship with Townsend was revealed to the public when an eagle-eyed journalist spotted the princess affectionately plucking a piece of lint from Townsend’s jacket during the Queen’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953.

Later that year, in April 1953, Townsend proposed to the 22-year-old princess. Because Margaret was under the age of 25 at the time – and because she was so closely linked to the line of succession – the Queen’s consent to the marriage was required by the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. Faced with an impossibly difficult decision – and with varying pressures weighing down on her – Elizabeth asked Margaret to wait for a few years.

• Read more | The best historical TV shows and films to stream right now

The princess and Townsend agreed to the request, planning to marry when Margaret turned 25. But just two years later, on 31 October 1955, Margaret released the following statement:

“I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. I 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.”

Had the Queen decided to stop Margaret from marrying Townsend? Not necessarily. (Although if the Netflix series The Crown is to be believed, Elizabeth had told her sister that she would no longer be a member of the family if she went ahead with the marriage.)

Margaret could have married Townsend – but there were caveats

Papers released at the National Archives in 2004 show that the Queen and then-prime minister Anthony Eden had drawn up a plan that would have permitted Margaret and Townsend to wed. There was, however, a ‘small’ catch: Margaret, and any children produced through the marriage, would be removed from the line of succession. The final draft of the proposal was produced on 28 October 1955, just three days before Margaret announced that she would not be marrying Townsend.

As Townsend himself put it, in his 1978 autobiography Time and Chance : “She could have married me only if she had been prepared to give up everything – her position, her prestige, her privy purse. I simply hadn’t the weight, I knew it, to counterbalance all she would have lost.”

• Did Princess Margaret really try to call off Charles and Diana’s wedding?

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Margaret ended up marrying Antony Armstrong-Jones – and an estimated 300 million people watched…

In February 1960, Margaret announced her engagement to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. The revelation surprised the media, who speculated that Margaret accepted the proposal shortly after learning that her former flame Peter Townsend intended to marry a 19-year-old Belgian woman named Marie-Luce Jamagne.

• Read more | Princess Margaret: from glamorous royal to a slide into tragedy

Three months later, on 6 May 1960, Margaret and Armstrong-Jones exchanged vows in a spectacular ceremony at Westminster Abbey. It was the first British royal wedding to be broadcast on television, and an estimated 300 million people tuned in to watch the occasion. Some 2,000 guests were invited, including the former prime minister Winston Churchill, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, and the king and queen of Sweden.

… and their wedding cost a staggering £86,000

In comparison to the nuptials of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, which took place during the post-war austerity of 1947, Margaret’s wedding was a lavish affair. Featuring 20 wedding cakes, a 60-foot floral arch and a dress made from more than 30-metres of fabric, the event reportedly cost £26,000 in total, with the honeymoon – a six-week jaunt on the royal yacht Britannia – adding an additional £60,000 to the bill. Following the honeymoon, the newlyweds moved into apartments at Apartment 1A, Kensington Palace. They went on to have two children: David, born on 3 November 1961, and Sarah, born on 1 May 1964.

Margaret paved the way for acceptance of royal divorce

Margaret’s and Antony Armstrong-Jones separated in 1976, around the same time that her affair with another man, Roddy Llewellyn , was made public (and Armstrong-Jones was engaging in affairs of his own). Biographer Christopher Warwick has since suggested that Margaret’s most enduring legacy was establishing public acceptance of royal divorce. Her relationship history was a sad one, he wrote, but it did help make the choices of her sister’s children – three of whom divorced ( Prince Charles , who married Lady Diana Frances Spencer in 1981 and divorced her in 1996; Princess Anne , who married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and divorced him in 1992; and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who married Sarah Ferguson in 1986 and divorced her in 1996) – easier than they otherwise might have been.

• Read more | Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret: why did their marriage break down?

Although she paved the way for royal divorces to come, the breakdown of Margaret’s marriage was received rather poorly in the British press at the time. Although divorce rates were increasing around the country in the 1970s, the royal family was held to a different standard in the eyes of the people. This is according to Dominic Sandbook, who writes that “much of the monarchy’s popularity during Margaret’s lifetime had been based on its image as a happy, united churchgoing family, with the Queen and Prince Philip held up as exemplary parents.” Margaret’s divorce disrupted this ideal, and by April 1978, seven out of 10 people agreed that Margaret’s behaviour had damaged her standing as a member of the royal family.

Princess Margaret was aged 47 when her divorce to Armstrong-Jones was finalised in July 1978.

Margaret is rumoured to have been romantically involved with gangster, John Bindon

Princess Margaret did not remarry following her divorce, but she had a number of well-publicised relationships and affairs . “Some of her subsequent lovers were almost beyond parody,” says historian Dominic Sandbrook – perhaps referring to rumours regarding her friendship with notorious gangster John Bindon.

• Read more | How many affairs did Princess Margaret have?

Margaret suffered a number of health problems in her later years

She may well be known as a party girl, but Princess Margaret could not afford to be carefree with her lifestyle as she approached old age. In January 1985, doctors removed part of Margaret’s lung – no doubt prompting fears that she was susceptible to the same cancer that her father, George VI, had suffered from. While Margaret’s section proved non-malignant, the health scare did prompt the princess to give up smoking. She was ultimately unsuccessful in this endeavour, but did succeed in cutting back her intake from 60 to 30 a day, according to one BBC report .

• Read more | How did Princess Margaret’s health decline?

Another notable health incident took place in 1999 when Margaret was holidaying at her villa the Caribbean Island of Mustique, a venue known for her famously boozy parties. The now 68-year-old princess, who had suffered a stroke the previous year, was badly burned after climbing into a bathtub filled with extremely hot water. She was transported back to the UK and spent some time recuperating at Windsor. A palace spokesman later explained what happened: "Princess Margaret scalded her feet a few weeks ago […] She was seen by a local doctor in Mustique, and came back to London a week after the accident.”

Princess Margaret died on 9 February 2002 at the age of 71 at The King Edward VII Hospital after suffering a stroke and developing heart problems.

Love quizzes? Fascinated by the royal family and The Crown ?

This article was first published on HistoryExtra in September 2018

Rachel Dinning is the Premium Content Editor at HistoryExtra, website of BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed.

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Inside the Life of the Most Famous Royal Party Girl

Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, passed away 17 years ago this month, but thanks in large part to The Crown , the late royal party girl is as popular as ever. The first two seasons of the Netflix series showcased Margaret’s younger years, which were full of heartbreak, loneliness, and wild nights out in the chic London arts scene of the 1950s, leading to a renewed cultural interest in the royal.

To satisfy our communal thirst for anything and everything Princess Margaret, PBS will air its new two-part series, aptly titled Margaret: The Rebel Princess , on February 10 and 17. The documentary traces the royal’s life (going beyond the stories we already know from The Crown ) and features interviews from a number of people who knew her — including Christopher Warwick, who wrote Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts , an authorized biography of the princess .

Ahead of the show’s debut, Warwick chatted with the Cut about working with Princess Margaret, the sides of her that the public never got to see, and why her hanging out with the likes of Mick Jagger was simply second nature.

You were the princess’s authorized biographer, meaning she specifically selected you to tell her story. What was that experience like? I first met the princess when I was working with a friend of hers on his first book, which we wrote at her house at Kensington Palace. Although I’d been well-aware of her all my life, I actually knew her for the last 22 years of her life, and it was a remarkable experience, really, from a biographer’s point of view. She was a fascinating person. It really was terrific to be able to talk to her directly and personally about aspects of her life and who she was. I’m not entirely sure that a biographer working with the person they are writing about gets to the true nitty-gritty, but you do it as best you can. And that’s how I was with Princess Margaret.

Did you have any preconceived notions of Princess Margaret before you met? And if so, were you surprised at all by her? The very first time that I had lunch with her, she said (and I remember her words precisely): “I expect before you met me, you thought I was the sort of person the tabloids said I was.” Then she paused, and she said, “And now you know I’m not.” It was so true that the woman I was talking to, the person I was getting to know, really wasn’t the person that I had read about in the tabloid press. I suppose it’s not unfair to say the public perception of her is divided. It’s true that, yes, she could be difficult. Yes, she could pull rank. Yes, she could bring a conversation to a shuddering halt by a correction or by a remark. But if we think of those as faults, then for all those faults, she was also, conversely, such fun. She was hugely intelligent, incredibly thoughtful and kind, and that’s the side of her by and large that was either not known or certainly wasn’t reported on.

Thanks to The Crown , she’s become popular with a new generation of people, and this documentary takes us through more of her life. What do you think will most surprise people? Margaret was perceived in many ways as a pioneer, as she straddled two worlds: the royal world with all its traditions and protocols and the modern world. If you went into her house at Kensington Palace, it looked like just a beautiful 18th-century classical interior. But within that interior, you got a very modern woman. On the grand piano, for example, she had something that was called Billy Bass, it was a rubber fish on a plastic wood look-alike base. If you pressed the button, the fish actually flapped about and sang “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” She was great fun. She had a lovely sense of humor. She could be very naughty.

But if she felt out of her comfort zone, if she felt threatened, if she felt she was made to look silly, then she would pull rank because of who she was. She famously had beautiful blue eyes, but if you overstepped the mark, those eyes turned to ice. I saw it only once. Otherwise, there are lots of stories about her unpleasantness. Some are true, and some are absolutely not. But what you never get reported was what a lovely person she was otherwise. She was a paradoxical character, if you like. Even the queen always said that her sister was an enigma.

Princess Margaret got a lot of criticism for being a party girl, but this documentary really shines a light on just how remarkable it was for her to even be so independent. The fact that she went out at night and even smoked in public seemed revolutionary. Smoking at that time was not at all unusual; what was surprising was when she was photographed in a nightclub when she was 19, lighting a cigarette in a long, black cigarette holder. There are things that we do that you don’t expect royalty to do, and doing this was pretty cool and trendy and shocking at the same time, but she was perceived as being a very glamorous trendsetter. In many ways she was.

Can you speak to her relationship with Queen Elizabeth? Perhaps people don’t really appreciate how strong the bond of love was between Elizabeth and Margaret. 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. But despite that, there was never any break in the bond between them. There was great love between them. And from the queen’s point of view, there was a lot of sympathy for what went on in Margaret’s life. They spoke every day on the telephone, even if it was just a few minutes, and they were always very close.

The princess also made headlines for her relationships — notably, her doomed relationships with her father’s former aide, Peter Townsend, and her failed marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones. Later, she made headlines after her affair with gardener Roddy Llewellyn went public. How did the royals weather that scandal? When the princess met Roddy Llewellyn, they unexpectedly hit it off, and he provided her with something she hadn’t had: affection and, from her point of view, love. But the public relationship did damage Princess Margaret’s reputation considerably. The queen was known to have said to her prime minister at the time, “What are we going to do about my sister’s guttersnipe life?” This remark was apparently made public by the queen’s private secretary, Lord Martin Charteris. I asked him if she’d actually said that and he told me, “Oh, words to that effect.”

Was there ever any royal concern about Margaret’s socializing and close friendships with celebrities? Margaret was a very modern person. In the 1950s when Margaret started to come into her own, there were only two women that the international press were interested in, and that was Princess Margaret and Elizabeth Taylor. In the ’60s, when Margaret married Tony Armstrong-Jones, they were both very much part of the arty set of art, literature, films, and theater. She said, “People say, this was what Tony introduced me to, but I was always interested in that.” She was always a part of that. She was famously close friends with dancers, and among her putative lovers were the actors Richard Harris and Warren Beatty. This is a lady who was modern royalty in a way that Britain hadn’t really seen before. To know Mick Jagger was no big deal. To know Peter Sellers was no big deal.

Do you think she ever really got over the disappointment of not being able to marry Peter Townsend, whom she was famously initially not permitted to wed by her sister? Peter Townsend was not the great love of her life. Princess Margaret would not talk to any of even her closest friends about him. Even as her authorized biographer, oh golly, it was difficult talking to her about Townsend. She wasn’t giving anything away. “It’s all over and done with,” she’d say. “I’ve forgotten it.” But I got just one glimmer of the truth when she said to me on one occasion, “How do you know when you’ve been apart from somebody for two years if you still want to marry them?” So no, he wasn’t the love of her life; 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.

Now, Princess Margaret is largely thought of as a sort of tragic figure — a fun girl in her youth who ended up alone. Is there any truth to that? In her later years, after Roddy married in 1981, she was a lady who needed love. It would have been absolutely wonderful if she had found somebody after Roddy, perhaps more of her own generation, who just could have played the part of partner. In the ’80s, there was a news story that she was about to become engaged to a friend of hers called Norman Lonsdale — because she had been seen wearing a ring on the wedding finger. She said to me, “Oh dear, oh poor Lonsdale.” She told me, “When a 51-year-old woman puts a 25-year-old ring on her finger, it does not mean she is going to be married.”

Then she told me, and this was very poignant at that time, “At my age, I shouldn’t be alone.” I think that sums up much of her later years: She was alone. 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. But was she a sad or a tragic character? No, she wasn’t. Not at all.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

• keeping up with the royals
• princess margaret

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Queen Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret were very different women who shared a 'primal bond'

Lilibet was 10 and Margaret was six when a twist of fate turned these minor aristocrats into the heir and the spare.

By rank, the sisters should have led a luxurious life on the royal periphery, comparable to that of princesses Beatrice and Eugenie in the present day. 

But on December 11, 1936, their childless uncle abdicated the throne and hurtled them towards their new destiny.

Lilibet was to become Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and one of the most significant women in history.

Margaret, a girl with a sparkling wit and a craving for the spotlight, would spend the rest of her life in her beloved sister's shadow.

Their differences could have driven them apart. Like so many royal siblings throughout history, the crown could have come between them. 

But these women shared a "primal bond", according to biographer Andrew Morton. 

"Margaret was her sister's alter ego," he wrote in Elizabeth and Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters. 

"Throughout their lives Elizabeth and Margaret butted heads — the sensible, older sister matched with the mischievous, wilful little sister."

But their devotion would be tested by a doomed romance, a looming constitutional crisis and a string of scandals. 

Two very different women 

The House of Windsor has a history of producing a dutiful, conservative heir followed by a charming, slightly dangerous, sibling. 

"Charles the patient versus Andrew the foolish. William the cautious matched against reckless Harry," Andrew Morton said. 

Princess Margaret said she and her sister were often reduced to archetypes fit for a fairytale. 

"When there are two sisters, and one is the Queen, who must be the source of all honour and all that is good, the other must be the focus of the most creative malice, the evil sister," she said. 

Despite an uncanny physical resemblance, they were extraordinarily different people.

Elizabeth's morning followed a strict routine fit for a monarch: Awoken by bagpipes, she would take tea alone before settling down to read her correspondence and the government documents requiring her approval.

By contrast, her sister rose at 9:00am, chain-smoked in bed and took a bath run by her ladies-in-waiting.

After having her hair and make-up done, she made her way downstairs for a "vodka pick-me-up" at noon.

She would then join her mother for a "four-course lunch served in an informal manner from silver dishes with half a bottle of wine per person, plus fruit and half a dozen different varieties of native and continental cheeses."

The Queen spent decades mastering the art of small talk with thousands of people at garden parties and state dinners. 

But her little sister was better known for wild house parties during which she sang, played piano, danced, gossiped, and downed expensive Scotch. 

"Disobedience is my joy," she once told French filmmaker Jean Cocteau. 

She smoked so much, according to her biographer Craig Brown, that she would glue a matchbook to her whisky tumbler "so that she could strike matches while drinking". 

She mixed with a crowd of British celebrities and bohemians, who enjoyed having a princess in their midst.

But they were also forced to endure her sharp tongue.

'The house guest from hell' 

After reeling people in with her charm, Margaret was notorious for suddenly hurling insults without warning. 

"Well you don't look like a movie star," she said to Grace Kelly when they met in the 1950s. 

She informed Elizabeth Taylor her engagement ring was "vulgar" and told the model Twiggy her nickname was "unfortunate". 

She also exploited royal protocol, earning herself the title of "the house guest from hell" from those who entertained her.

She often showed up late to dinner parties, knowing the meal could not start until she had arrived. 

"Dinner was at 8:30pm, and at 8:30pm Princess Margaret's hairdresser arrived, so we waited for hours while he concocted a ghastly coiffure," English novelist Nancy Mitford recalled of a party in Paris in 1959. 

Her short temper and obsession with rank was an attempt "to control what she could", according to Helena Bonham Carter, who knew the princess and played her in the Netflix series, The Crown. 

"If you have very little control in your life, you often end up controlling what little that you can," the actress  said.

But perhaps the biggest difference between Margaret and her sister was their taste in men. 

Margaret's tragic love life nearly tore apart her relationship with the Queen, and threatened the future of the monarchy. 

A forbidden romance 

After the love affair between King Edward and divorcee Wallis Simpson triggered a constitutional crisis, the royal family were keen to avoid any more romantic scandals. 

And so when Princess Margaret announced at 22 that she had fallen in love with Peter Townsend, a divorced royal equerry 16 years her senior, they were swift to cover up the relationship.

"She was a girl of unusual, intense beauty confined as it was in her short slender figure and centred about large eyes, generous, sensitive lips and a complexion as smooth as a peach," Group Captain Townsend wrote in his memoir. 

"But what ultimately made Princess Margaret so attractive and lovable was that behind the dazzling facade, the apparent self-assurance, you could find, if you looked for it, a rare softness and sincerity." 

Hardly any photos of the couple exist, and palace courtiers continued to spruik Margaret as a single, glamorous and eligible young princess. 

But on the day of her sister's coronation, a tiny gesture gave the secret couple away. 

Waiting at Westminster Abbey for her carriage back to Buckingham Palace, Margaret was spotted by the media brushing a piece of fluff from Peter Townsend's uniform.

The intimacy of the moment was confirmation enough for the British press and they printed a story about their romance two weeks after the coronation. 

While the new Queen had asked the couple to give her a year to settle in before she would grant them permission to marry, the tabloid story sent her courtiers into a panic. 

They ordered Group Captain Townsend to move to Brussels to serve as air attaché at the British embassy. 

Princess Margaret was on tour in Rhodesia at the time.

When she returned, the love of her life was gone. 

Margaret must choose: status or love

For the next three years, the question of marriage consumed Margaret and Peter, as well as Buckingham Palace. 

The Queen, though nervous about the disapproval of her parliament and the Church of England, supported her beloved Margaret. 

"Her Majesty would not wish to stand in the way of her sister's happiness," then-prime minister Anthony Eden wrote in a letter to the Commonwealth. 

Together the Queen and Mr Eden formulated a plan. Princess Margaret could marry her love while keeping her royal title and allowance.

She could even continue with royal duties if the public approved, which was likely, given that by 1955 people regularly shouted to her: "Go on, Marg, do what you want!"

But there was a catch. She would have to renounce her rights of succession and those of her children, and marry in a civil ceremony. 

Three days after the Queen and her prime minister finalised the plan, Margaret broke up with Peter Townsend forever. 

"Mindful of the Church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have decided to put these considerations before any others," she said in a statement.

"I am deeply grateful for the concern of all those who have constantly prayed for my happiness." 

Whether she was bullied by courtiers, loyal to the crown, or falling out of love, Margaret made her choice: To remain by her sister's side. 

Princess Margaret meets her match 

When they parted, Margaret and Peter Townsend made a pact to never marry anyone else. 

Four years later, Group Captain Townsend proposed to a Belgian woman 25 years his junior. 

Betrayed and heartbroken, the princess knew it was time to move on with her life. 

A year after the Townsend wedding, she walked into Westminster Abbey surrounded by 2,000 guests, and married Antony Armstrong-Jones. 

The magazine photographer was the first commoner to wed a king's daughter in 400 years, and the Queen gave her new brother-in-law the title of Earl of Snowdon. 

"The [royal family] liked him very much — Tony had great charm, very good manners and he knew exactly how to behave," Anne de Courcy wrote in her biography of the earl. 

"He felt devotion to the royal family, to the Queen, who he admired immensely."

Her marriage ushered in an era of stability for Princess Margaret, who gave birth to two children and stayed close to her mother and sister. 

The Queen had a direct phone line installed from Buckingham Palace to Margaret's apartment in Kensington Palace so they could chat whenever they wanted. 

The princess and Lord Snowdon were at the centre of London high society in the 1960s, mixing with celebrities and intellectuals. 

But the relationship slowly started to unravel as both husband and wife engaged in affairs. 

By the early 1970s, the couple were so at odds that Lord Snowdon would hide abusive messages in Margaret's belongings.

"He took to leaving nasty notes on her desk, including one headed '24 Reasons Why I Hate You,' which particularly upset her," biographer Craig Brown said. 

"On [another occasion] a note [was] tucked into her bedside book, saying simply, 'I hate you.'"

In 1976, with her marriage all but over, Princess Margaret's romantic life triggered another scandal.

But this time she would not sacrifice love for the crown. 

Margaret's tragic final years 

Roddy Llewellyn was a 25-year-old gardener partying in Scotland when he caught the eye of a 43-year-old princess in the midst of a secret marriage breakdown. 

They kept their affair under wraps for several years, but a paparazzo with a long lens camera eventually spotted them on a beach in Mustique. 

"I didn't think about the consequences of such a high-profile affair," Mr Llewellyn later said of their relationship.

"I was just following my heart."

The British tabloids were aghast at the relationship between a married older princess and the man they referred to as her "boy toy".

Members of parliament called Margaret a "floozy" and a "parasite".  But despite pressure from her sister and the government, Margaret refused to give Roddy up.

And in 1978, she became the first royal since King Henry VIII to divorce, officially ending her marriage to Lord Snowdon. 

The rebel princess reduced the number of public appearances she made and spent more time in Mustique with her lover. 

However, her second era of relative stability did not last long. 

In 1981,  after eight years together, Roddy Llewellyn and Margaret broke up. 

She would spend the rest of her life alone, holidaying with friends on tropical islands and making an occasional appearance with her sister. 

While the Windsor women are known for robust health and longevity, a lifetime of cocktails and cigarettes began to take their toil on Margaret when she reached her 50s. 

After years of ill health, she died in her sleep from a stroke in 2002. 

At the funeral, Elizabeth, known for her stoicism through war and tragedy, wiped tears from her face with a handkerchief. 

It was one of the few times the Queen ever cried in public.

Lady Anne Glenconner, who introduced Princess Margaret to Roddy Llewellyn, was at the funeral, and tried to avoid an encounter with the Queen.

 "It was difficult for the Queen and I felt rather guilty always, having introduced Roddy to Princess Margaret," she said. 

But the Queen spotted her after the service and asked to speak to her. 

"She said, ‘I’d just like to say, Anne, it was rather difficult at moments, but I thank you so much [for] introducing her to Roddy because he made her really happy,'" Lady Anne said.

Margaret may have been called Elizabeth's alter ego and her "evil" twin. 

But really, she was a woman with no purpose but to be a spare part in a gilded machine. 

She spent her life seeking love and connection with men she could not have, or worse, men who let her down. 

In the end, the most enduring and significant relationship Margaret had was the one she shared with her sister. 

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