Margaret’s son: Mother was no carousing floozie
New Lord Snowdon to write biography attacking The Crown’s portrayal of Princess as a ‘party-going, chain-smoking diva’
IMPOSSIBLY glamorous, yet supposedly selfish, rude and manipulative – the reputation of Princess Margaret has taken a beating in the past few months.
Television blockbuster The Crown and a waspish bestseller from Mail on Sunday columnist Craig Brown have portrayed the Queen’s late sister as an insatiable partygoer and chain-smoking diva.
So it is little wonder, perhaps, that Princess Margaret’s son, the 2nd Earl of Snowdon, has decided to write his own biography to rescue his mother’s tarnished image.
David Armstrong-Jones, 57, has been consulting with historians with a view to producing a more rounded picture of the Princess and his father, the late society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones.
‘My mother is often portrayed, whether it’s in “authoritative” books, or TV dramas, as being a socialite who was only interested in parties,’ he has told friends.
‘She was so much more than that, and devoted a huge amount of her time to the arts, as well as all her official duties on behalf of the Queen. The series and the book depict fiction as fact,’ he said, ‘and the worry is that future generations will believe that my mother really behaved this way, word for word, scene by scene. It’s time to correct this damaging image.’
Lord Snowdon has confirmed to friends that the early stages of research are under way.
He already owns his mother’s correspondence and, as the project progresses, the Queen’s nephew will have unfettered access to the vast Royal archives at Windsor Castle.
Lord Snowdon has told friends he is dismayed about The Crown, lamenting the ‘cheap’ portrayal of his mother as ‘some sort of carousing floozie’. The most recent series included her doomed romance with divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend.
The next instalment, due out in the coming months, will feature the angry breakdown of her marriage to Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl Snowdon, which disintegrated amid petty jealousies and rival love affairs. And it will cover Margaret’s relationship with gardener Roddy Llewellyn, which began while she was still married. The Princess died following a stroke, aged 71, in 2002.
As a young woman, Margaret had been one of the most photographed and talked-about figures in postwar Britain, the first celebrity Royal. She was a noted supporter of the arts, was president of the Royal Ballet and surrounded herself with the leading artists of the day.
Yet Margaret also attracted notoriety – not least when pictures were published of the 45-year-old PrinHappy cess and her 28-year-old lover, Llewellyn, on holiday on the Caribbean island of Mustique in 1976.
Lord Snowdon has spoken about his mother’s more domestic qualities, saying that, while she liked to associate with stars such as Mick Jagger, she also taught him how to make salmon mousse and washed her own chandeliers. to break with convention, Margaret took her children to factories, to the ballet, the theatre and galleries, things not expected of Royal children at that time.
‘She had all these amazing sides to her,’ Lord Snowdon has said.
‘She never pressured us to do things, she was always enthusiastic and made everyone feel included. She said, “Just do the best you can.” There was a very loving side as well.’
Royal biographer Hugo Vickers said a book redressing the balance is overdue. ‘Her friends have been rather depressed by the way she has been portrayed,’ he said. ‘Every now and again we see fresh quotes or letters suggesting she was much more thoughtful and intelligent than we have been led to believe.’
‘It’s time to correct this damaging image of her’