{"id":60795,"date":"2022-07-19T12:16:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T12:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=60795"},"modified":"2022-07-19T12:16:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T12:16:59","slug":"scandalous-secret-life-princess-margaret","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/scandalous-secret-life-princess-margaret\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The X-Rated Queen Of Mustique’: The Scandalous Secret Life Of Princess Margaret \u2013 The Sister The Queen ‘Betrayed’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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They grew up as loving sisters \u2013 but according to the latest explosive episode of the hit podcast “<\/span>The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,” <\/span>Queen Elizabeth II<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and her younger sibling, <\/span>Princess Margaret<\/strong><\/span>,<\/span> fell out irrevocably in 1955 \u2014 and the split led to the Queen\u2019s sister ending up a \u201cboozy, cigarette-smoking loose cannon” who \u201cjust wanted to get drunk and have her lovers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cElizabeth <\/span>was the sovereign<\/span><\/a>,\u201d <\/span>Thomas Mace-Archer-Mills<\/strong><\/span>, founder of the British Monarchist Society, tells the host of the podcast. \u201cSo she therefore had to make all the decisions for her family, including Margaret, and that is something that’s very difficult for a younger sibling to always now have to be beholden in every aspect of your life, to your elder sibling.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMargaret always had an issue with that. Always. And I don’t think ever forgave her sister for a lot of the decisions that were made for the endurance of the crown, rather than the endurance of a <\/span>relationship between two sisters<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to throne in 1952, following the death of <\/span>George VI<\/strong><\/span>. As previously revealed in “The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession,” her father had only become King <\/span>due to the abdication of his brother <\/span>Edward VIII<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, and as a young child, Elizabeth had no idea that she would one day become Queen.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jane Dismore<\/strong><\/span>, author of <\/span>Princess, the Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II<\/em><\/span>, explains that the sisters\u2019 personalities were different even then.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Elizabeth was generally a shyer person than Margaret<\/span><\/a> and took things very seriously,\u201d she says. \u201cShe didn’t really like jokes played on people … She didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings. Princess Margaret had none of that compunction. If it was funny, it was funny.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, Margaret was spoiled by her father.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe also discovered she had a knack of making people laugh and their father, George VI, however much of a pain she was being \u2013 and she could be an absolute pain \u2013 he would laugh,\u201d she continues. \u201cSo, as a result, she was rather indulged and there was a courtier who said that sometimes they just wanted to <\/span>give Princess Margaret<\/span><\/a> a good slap because she was just being so difficult or spoiled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But if Margaret was used to getting her own way, once her sister became Queen, things changed dramatically. Things came to a head almost immediately following Elizabeth\u2019s coronation. In 1953, rumors began to spread that Margaret was romantically attached to former Battle of Britain hero Group Captain <\/span>Peter Townsend<\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem was that Townsend was divorced \u2013 and under the Royal Marriages Act <\/span>brought in 150 years before<\/span><\/a>, Margaret needed the permission of her <\/span>sister to marry him<\/span><\/a>. Sensationally, Elizabeth refused.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it all came out \u2013 she couldn’t marry without her sister’s consent,\u201d explains <\/span>Jane Dismore<\/strong><\/span>. \u201cAnd her sister, the Queen, wants to support her, but she also can’t support her marrying a divorced man. It hit the newspapers. It was a big thing at the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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And as royal commentator <\/span>Richard Fitzwilliams<\/strong><\/span> reveals, that decision created an irreconcilable rift between the <\/span>once-close sisters<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, there’s no doubt the Queen wanted Princess Margaret to be happy, but there’s little doubt that she wasn’t especially approving herself about this relationship,\u201d he says. \u201cPrincess Margaret expected that the Queen would back her and the Queen felt that she couldn’t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the podcast reveals, feeling betrayed and abandoned by Elizabeth\u2019s decision, Margaret was to spend much of the rest of her life on the private Caribbean island of Mustique, where she became the head of a community of louche, fabulously rich bohemians dedicated to living a life of idle pleasure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whispers began to spread of the activities on Mustique, including wild parties, drugs, and free love \u2013 with Princess Margaret presiding over the licentiousness. She even acquired a nickname: \u201cThe X-Rated Queen of Mustique.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe comes across as kind of a boozy, cigarette-smoking loose cannon, if you will, who wanted to be much more hip than the Queen would ever consider being,\u201d explains <\/span>Cele Otnes<\/strong><\/span>, author of <\/span>Royal Fever<\/em><\/span>. \u201cI mean, on the one hand, Princess Margaret infuses some glamor into the Royal Family and a little bit of excitement \u2026 She definitely lived her own life \u2013 a very, very big deviation from what was expected.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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On the other hand, says <\/span>Stewart Pearce<\/strong><\/span>, a former friend of <\/span>Princess Diana<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and whose mother was friendly with \u201cMargo\u201d as she called her, Margaret\u2019s activities as the X-Rated Queen of Mustique were nothing less than a scandal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese people who lived their lives in constant propriety were able to suddenly be whatever they wanted to be,\u201d he says. \u201cI believe that there were parties of licentiousness where people drank a lot and possibly imbibed in the occasional marijuana or whatever was going on. And Margo could tell wonderful stories and could dance the light fandango, and she would sit at the piano and sing like a lark, she was a great entertainer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/strong><\/span>The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession”<\/strong><\/span><\/a> explores a new royal scandal every week \u2013 and the podcast <\/span>explains that Margaret<\/span><\/a>\u2019s scandalous life in Mustique \u2013 and her split from her sister \u2013 has many parallels in subsequent generations of the royal family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Princess Margaret was the first second born royal of the modern royal family who really kind of learned to have a little bit more fun, and have a slightly longer leash with the Royal Family,\u201d royal commentator <\/span>Eloise Parker<\/strong><\/span> tells the podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe spent a lot of time sunning herself in Mustique, and living a very glamorous life. And I think we’ve seen that happen with second born royals in generations since, certainly <\/span>Prince Andrew<\/strong><\/span><\/a> was notoriously the most fun-loving <\/span>royal of his generation<\/span><\/a>, and then subsequently <\/span>Prince Harry<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, who has also taken <\/span>a very different path<\/span><\/a> to his more serious brother.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For royal biographer <\/span>Andrew Lownie<\/strong><\/span>, however, <\/span>Margaret\u2019s resentment<\/span><\/a> at having to play second fiddle to her sister was no excuse for her subsequent lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThere’s always a role that they [members of the royal family] can create if they want to create it,\u201d he says. \u201cThey feel very entitled and they don’t really always have the strongest sense of public duty. Margaret just wanted to get drunk and have her lovers and sit up late. She was offered roles and she just didn’t want them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to “The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession” here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26633,"featured_media":60802,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[4054,23],"yoast_head":"\nInside The Scandalous Secret Life Of Princess Margaret<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inside the scandalous secret life of Princess Margaret \u2014 get details from the new podcast, here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=60795\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'The X-Rated Queen Of Mustique': The Scandalous Secret Life Of Princess Margaret \u2013 The Sister The Queen 'Betrayed'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Inside the scandalous secret life of Princess 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