Margaret Secrets of the really really pampered Princess
REVELATIONS of Princess Margaret’s glamorous and decadent lifestyle are causing a stir – 15 years after her death.
A new biography of the Queen’s sister reveals how breakfast in bed, a long bath and a slug of vodka often primed her for a splendidly long lunch with her mother.
Now she has become an internet sensation after a summary of her morning routine in the mid-1950s was shared thousands of times on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The excerpt came from Craig Brown’s Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses Of Princess Margaret.
Often accused of being grander than the Queen and ruder than Prince Philip, Margaret, who died in 2002 aged 71, was never known to have lived a modest life.
She is even said to have demanded her children use her title when addressing her.
But according to the biography her daily routine from 1955, when she was in her mid-20s, has inspired the envy of millions. It reveals that at 9am she had breakfast in bed, followed by two further hours in bed listening to the radio and reading the papers – “which she invariably left scattered over the floor” – and chain-smoking.
By 11am she was ready to get into the bath drawn for her by her maid. And after an hour of wallowing it was time to do her hair and put on her make-up at her dressing table and, finally, get dressed.
Beauty
“As one would imagine of a princess, she never wore any of her clothes more than once without having them cleaned,” the reader is told.
Margaret, the ultimate high society beauty, would then appear downstairs for a vodka pick-me-up at 12.30pm, followed by a four-course lunch with the Queen Mother from 1pm “served in an informal manner from silver dishes” with half a bottle of wine per person, plus fruit and a variety of native and continental cheeses.
At the time she is believed to have lived with the Queen Mother in Clarence House.
One fan tweeted: “Where do I apply for mid-20th century Princess? I have both the skills and lack of drive required.”
Another wrote: “This post has made my day! Long may it reign – tiaras, long baths and vodka breaks for all!”
In his book, Brown has tried to paint a picture of Margaret’s life using the impressions of others who recorded their meetings with her.
Princess Margaret certainly courted controversy with her divorce from Antony Armstrong-Jones – created 1st Earl of Snowdon by the Queen – earning her negative publicity.
A heavy smoker for most of her adult life, she had a lung operation in 1985, pneumonia in 1993, and at least three strokes between 1998 and 2001. She died in February 2002.
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