Stymied by firm beliefs
WHEN a young Princess Elizabeth first realised she was destined to become Queen, her sister Margaret is said to have remarked: “Poor you.” Or words to that effect.
It was, after all, a somewhat unexpected turn of events, their father George having ascended the throne at fairly short notice following his brother’s abdication in December 1936.
Yet while Elizabeth’s life was about to take a somewhat demandingly different route, Margaret’s destiny had also undergone a significant shift.
“Poor you, too,” Elizabeth should maybe have replied (but, of course, one always thinks of those witty ripostes when the moment has passed). PRINCESS MARGARET: THE REBEL ROYAL (BBC2, 9pm) is an absorbing new two-part documentary, reflecting on the life of a woman whose big sister, four years her senior, had found her role becoming clearly if dauntingly mapped out, while Margaret’s own would remain frustratingly ill-defined.
“Margaret was part of a social revolution that would shake both the country and the Royal Family,” the programme points out, reminding us how the fashionable lifestyle she came to favour attracted no end of flak, perhaps because she wanted the best of both worlds.
“What people objected to,” explains Lady Anne Glenconner, a lady-in-waiting, “is that one minute she was being rather grand and expecting people to curtsy, the next she was in black leather on a motorbike.”
Another thorny issue, of course, was Margaret’s relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend, who served as equerry to her father for eight years.
Had she been born in more enlightened times, Margaret would surely have gone on to marry this chap, who’d divorced in 1952 and proposed to her the following year. However for a royal back then to wed a divorcee, and one who’d been – good lord – staff? It simply wasn’t on.
“She lived a life of extraordinary privilege,” remarks one commentator, “but in the end Margaret became a casualty of the system.”
Which brings us neatly on to Anthea Turner. Well, sort of. Anthea plans to break the rules as well it seems, but in her case they’re only the rules of CELEBS IN SOLITARY: MELTDOWN (Channel 5, 9.15pm).
Hosted by George Lamb, this new three-part challenge is the famous-person version of the show where each participant is stripped of their possessions, most notably their mobiles, then shut away in a claustrophobic, windowless pod alone for five days, effectively to see if they go doolally.
Also taking part are musician Professor Green, strongman Eddie Hall and comic Shazia Mirza.
So, yes, I’m afraid the world must carry on without those three as well for a while.
Each participant can bring three luxury items. However when they are told, at the end of day one, that they must sacrifice one of them – in Anthea’s case, her crochet kit – the former Blue Peter host flatly refuses. “No,” she huffs. “I don’t want to.” Frankly, I’m outraged. I look to Anthea Turner as my role model and that’s the kind of example she sets me.