Princess Margaret

Older sibling: Queen Elizabeth II Born: Aug. 21, 1930 Place: Glamis Castle, Scotland. (The castle belonged to the inlaws. “Now there’s so much scrutiny on the fact that the Middletons are very involved in Prince George’s upbringing, but when we look a few generations back . . . the eventual Queen Mother’s family was very involved with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret,” Harris notes.) Name speculation: Her mother wanted to call her Ann Margaret, but her grandfather, King George V, didn’t like the name Ann. Succession at birth: Fourth — but she died in 2002, 11th in line Awkward custom: Princess Margaret was one of the last royal princesses to have the British home secretary present for her birth (in a room next door). The custom dates back to 1688 with rumours that King James II’s newborn son had been stillborn and an impostor had been smuggled into the birthing room in a warming pan. The King had converted to Catholicism and his second wife was a Catholic. The scandal tarnished the child’s legitimacy. Fearing a Catholic dynasty, William of Orange, the Protestant husband of King James’s daughter Mary (from James’s first marriage), invaded England, where he was welcomed, and the couple was crowned jointly. The “warming pan” son, named James, would grow up in France and be known as the “Old Pretender.” Scandal: As a young woman, Margaret fell in love with divorced Capt. Peter Townsend. She could have given up her title to marry him, but this was only one generation after her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne. She married a photographer later known as Lord Snowdon, but eventually divorced him, the first in a series of high-profile divorces in the Royal Family. She was linked to a number of prominent men, including a young lawyer named John Turner, who would one day become Canada’s prime minister. Legacy: While her sister Elizabeth was interested in country living, hunting and dogs, Margaret was known for the arts and theatre, and being more of a free spirit. “Long before Diana, the princess was setting European hearts aflame,” the Star wrote upon her death in 2002. “Her many boyfriends and romantic liaisons earned her years of public condemnation, and led to questions about her fitness to continue drawing civil list funds as a member of the Royal Family.”