Royal Insight Forum

Somewhere in some thread I pointed out that the Cabinet documents released in 2005, show that the government of the day as well as the Queen were prepared to let Princess Margaret marry Peter Townsend. In the end the 2 of them decided that they wouldn't marry. Margaret was never forced to 'give him up' it was a mutual decision.

Now it seems a letter that Margaret wrote to the Prime Minister of the day has surfaced where she writes that she hasn't made up her mind in regards to wanting to marry Peter Townsend. (She was obviously aware of the government's efforts to make it possible for the 2 of them to marry)

Princess Margaret rejected marriage to Townsend 'because she was unsure, not out of duty' | Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226085/Princess-Margaret-rejected-marriage-Townsend-unsure-duty.html)

Thank you, Jonquil....Yes, Margaret has been portrayed as robbed of her true love when it somply is not true..
It's like Charles being robbed of a marriage to Camilla Shand...not true. At the time he didn't wish to marry....and in fact may have never married had he not been expected to produce heirs.

How do you know that 'at the time he didn't wish to marry'? Not that Prince Charles' marriage problems have anything to do with this thread.

i read about this what a sad outcome nonetheless, wonder where she and mr. townsend would have end up had she said yes . . .thanks for the article information. : )

Quote from: daibando on November 11, 2009, 04:07:43 PM
How do you know that 'at the time he didn't wish to marry'? Not that Prince Charles' marriage problems have anything to do with this thread.

Isn't it pretty obvious? Had he wanted to marry her, he would have done. He was a free agent. So many people think she married Andrew Parker Bowles on the rebound but I doubt that. I think she preferred him to Charles and preferred being mistress to Charles. Since she was his mistress for decades, please don't tell me she didn't want to be...She never tried to divorce Andrew Parker Bowles...he was the one who asked for a divorce after Charles exposed his wife on television.

I see the revisionist's are at play.

Princess Margaret at the time was told that if she married Peter Townsend she would be forced to relinquish her privileges and possibly her title.  What PM did not know at the time was that if she had held her ground she would have won the day.  The RF and courtiers pulled a bluff and won.  What I am curious to know is what was Prince Phillip's role in all this?  It is said that from this moment relations were constantly strained between them.

Quote from: Lucy on November 11, 2009, 07:59:25 PM
Isn't it pretty obvious? Had he wanted to marry her, he would have done. He was a free agent. So many people think she married Andrew Parker Bowles on the rebound but I doubt that. I think she preferred him to Charles and preferred being mistress to Charles. Since she was his mistress for decades, please don't tell me she didn't want to be...She never tried to divorce Andrew Parker Bowles...he was the one who asked for a divorce after Charles exposed his wife on television.

It isn't obvious at all. He was not a free agent. The establishment insisted that he must marry a virgin and everyone knew that this particular lady was not a virgin. Times have changed but we cannot apply today's conditions to the past.

Camilla NEVER even thought of marrying Charles as she  knew what was required at the time,for the bride of a royal Besides, for a couple of years, previously to meeting Charles, she was totally crazy about APB...She only set her Cap for Charles once APB was having a relationship with Princess Anne!!Oneupmanship.. I would imagine, once she saw that Prince Charles fell for her "womanly ways" and he was easily  led, she enjoyed the perks, especially later, after her marriage to APB,, on becoming Charles's full time mistress.. Oh! Except for the time off to have her two children.. Talk about planning...


Margaret and Peter's relationship was totally innocent, in comparison with the others...No manipulations or cunning..

Charles may have been required to marry a "virgin" but it should not have given him carte blanche to sleep with someone else's wife. I think no matter how times have change one would think adultery is still very wrong.

Sandy, we all know how you feel about Prince Charles and his adultery. Isn't it about time that you gave us a rest?

Give it a rest?Excuse me? I believe we have free speech on this board and his adultery was wrong -- I was your addresssing your "times have changed" phrase and I'm maintaining some thngs don't change with time.

But OTOH our former Governor who cheated on his wife with call girls is speaking at Harvard University about Ethics. Maybe Charles will eventually be called to speak there too.

Of course we have free speech on this board and his adultery was wrong.  But this is supposed to be a thread to discuss Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, which I for one find a very interesting subject.  Why must Charles and Camilla come into every discussion when the subject has already been covered.

As far as Peter and Margaret, I think that Prince Philip was probably against their marrying as Peter was probably, in his mind, far below the Princess.  I have never thought that Philip was a sentimental person and probably thought that any talk of love between royals was superfluous.
I also believe that Philip knew that if the King was still alive there would have been no negotiations about this matter.  He simply would have put his foot down and thrown Peter out of Margaret's life.  After Margaret gave Peter up she used the rest of her life to behave as she pleased knowing she would be excused for her great renunciation of the love of her life.  Very sad story.  However, I doubt that she would have been happy for long with Peter Townsend or that he would have been happy with her in the long run.  She was too spoiled and too used to getting her own way.  He could not have supported her in the style to which she was accustomed and she would probably have gotten tired of just being a wife.  Of course I am not a mind reader, it is just my opinion.

It's hard to say. If they loved each other why not? I don't think she ever felt the same with Snowdon. Margaret I doubt had any idea she would be "excused" for "giving up her love." In any case, I think the secret went with Margaret and Townsend to their graves.

I think Philip WAS sentimental. He and Princess Elizabeth kept playing "People will say we're in Love" as "their song." It was not all duty.

I base my opinion on Philip's sentimentality on his behavior when Princess Margaret died.  As the Queen was following her sister's coffin out of the chapel she was crying.  Philip turned to her and snapped "Stop that".  I was frankly shocked to see how insensitive he was to his wife who had just lost a beloved sister and companion of her youth.  I doubt that Prince Philip had anything to do with playing that song.  Both Lilibet and Margaret had show tunes playing all the time, this sounds more like Lilibet's doing than anything to do with Philip.  Considering some of the nasty things he has said in the past to and about people, I see no sentimentality and quite frankly very little sense in his behavior.  I don't begin to understand a man like him and I can understand just how difficult it must have been for Prince Charles to have such a father.

Charles hasn't exactly been a sterling character in the fatherhood dept. either. He loves his sons but if he really should have tried to work things out with his wife and not had the mistress constantly lurking int he background. I also think he should have put his sons before getting the mistress accepted and not used them in the spin to get her accepted.

And what goes on behind closed doors, we'll never know. His children (other than Charles) never complained about him. I think part of Charles' nature is to be a grievance collector. And remember Charles DID compliment Philip publicly on his advice to have Charles spend time working in Australia (and I recall studying there).

Margaret too was not the height of warmth, she didn't bow her head  at the passing of Diana's coffin (even though she was at one time friendly with the Late Princess) and lipreaders read her saying rather derogatory things about the Diana Funeral DURING the funeral!

It is hard for me to imagine just how long a nice man like Peter Townsend would have put up with a girl like Pss. Margaret.  She was difficult, but perhaps he had the misfortune of falling for the same type of woman.  His first wife was certainly no bargain.  I have his book and he really was a good person.  I am glad he found a nice wife and hope his life was happy.

lilibet80, I have vague memories of that book.  If I recall, Townsends wife bore a slight resemblance to Margaret in some of the pics I saw of her.

I don't know if their relationship would have lasted, but what people forget is PM took her fathers death very badly.  I always thought that with PT she saw a sort of father figure.

PS.  This topic has nothing to do with Charles & Diana.

Margaret's father really liked Townsend and trusted him. Had he lived Margaret and Townsend might have married. Some said Townsend was like the son he never had.

I read that to.  That for me is one of the things which drew PM towards Townsend.

Absolutely the King like Peter very much.  That is a far cry from allowing his daughter to marry him, he was divorced, and the King wanted her to marry into the Duke of Buccleuch's family.  As for Tony, he would have thrown him out faster than he would have thrown out Peter.  However, if the King had lived the Townsend affair would never have progressed.  There was an instance when Peter and Margaret planned their own picnic away from where the family was picknicking.  The King heard about it and went over to them and put a stop to it.  The Queen and the QM were walking on eggs around Margaret after the King's death so they looked the other way.  This would never have happened if the King had lived.

I read  a story that in the presence of the King, Townsend picked up Margaret and carried her down stairs. The King didn't seem to mind that Margaret aand Townsend were an item. Townsend even accompanied the family on the 1947 Royal Tour and was said to spend much time with Margaret there. If her father really were so disapproving IMO he would have separated them and/or not invited Townsend anywhere near the family. The King also wanted Princess Elizabeth to marry someone other than Prince Philip (and had some candidates) but Elizabeth wanted to be with Philip.

I believe, had Margaret really wanted to marry Peter Townsend and The King was still alive , had she stomped her  Royal little foot , she would have gone up against her father in the way the Elizabeth held out for Philip.  NOW , in ELizabeth's case, she was head over heels in love with Phillip for a very long time, but I would think, that perhaps Margaret, with her own strong Leo personality, would have played a game with her Father, with her winning, even if she had doubts about marrying Peter. Peter Townsend was a very decent , mature and experienced man... I'm sure he could read between the lines and see the true Margaret and knew what motivated her and what didn't. I think, after reading his book and seeing how happy his life turned out, that he also did not want to marry Princess Margaret, but put her in the position of saying it first.I also think, he was such a gentleman, after that year away and  had Margaret insisted they continue the relationship and marry, he would have....commitment and all that...

Philip was a royal, never married, a member of the family.  The King would not have given in no matter what Margaret said.  He would have known the trouble such a marriage would cause within the church and the government.  He did not want Margaret to marry a commoner and certainly not a divorced man.  It may have broken his heart to deny her anything, but I think he would have said no to her.  However, I am not in a position to know, nor is anyone else.

Unless Margaret married another royal even the aristocracy are considered commoners so even if she did marry into the Duke of Buccleuch's family she still would have married a commoner as her Aunt Princess was a daughter of a Duke of Buccleuch and was a commoner until her marriage to Prince Henry.

There  are commoners and then there are commoners.  There is a vast difference between marrying an untitled commoner and marrying a Duke's son or daughter.  King George V gave his permission for his children to marry aristocrats as after the first world war there were very few royal houses left. 

Right and George V daughter The Princess Royal married the 8th Earl of Harewood not a Duke or a Royal Duke as I have said anything less then an HRH is considered a commoner albeit a well born one.

So what?  Naturally, everyone knows that a person who is not royal is a commoner.  But there is a difference between a Duke and Earl and an untitled commoner.  What is your point?  If there are no royals to be married then the next choice is to marry an aristocrat, albeit a "commoner."  Why split hairs about this?  Is it just to be right?  King George was very happy to have his "commoner" daughters-in-law, Elizabeth, Duchess of York and Princess Alice of Gloucester.  He would not have been so happy had they not been members of the aristocracy. 

Quote from: sandy on November 12, 2009, 03:00:51 PM
Charles may have been required to marry a "virgin" but it should not have given him carte blanche to sleep with someone else's wife. I think no matter how times have change one would think adultery is still very wrong.

The Prince of Wales didn't have to wed a virgin.

Please explain, Fawbert, because that's the impression everyone is under --that his bride had to be a virgin.

Margaret was a spoiled, spoiled girl.  She stamped her foot, and I am still to this day shocked she didn't press further about marrying.  I think she did know she could use it to her advantage in the future and wasn't as "in love" as she was letting on.

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon | Unofficial Royalty (http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-margaret-countess-of-snowdon/)

Quote
Princess Margaret was the second daughter of King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. She was born Princess Margaret Rose of York on August 21, 1930, at Glamis Castle in Scotland. At the time of her birth, she was 4th in line for the British throne.

She was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace on October 30, 1930. Her godparents were:

    The Prince of Wales – later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor (her father's brother)
    Princess Ingrid of Sweden – later Queen of Denmark (her father's second cousin)
    Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (her father's great-aunt)
    Lady Rose Leveson-Gower (her mother's sister)
    The Hon. David Bowes-Lyon (her mother's brother)

Just six years after she was born, her grandfather, King George V, passed away and her uncle became King Edward VIII. Just 11 months later, he abdicated, and Margaret's father became King George VI. The family moved from their modest home at 145 Piccadilly, to Buckingham Palace. Here, Margaret was a Brownie with the 1st Buckingham Palace Brownie Pack, and later a Girl Guide and Sea Ranger. These organizations held a special place in Margaret's heart, and she remained involved with them until her death. She was educated privately by a governess – Marion Crawford, who later wrote a book about the Princesses which resulted in her being banished from royal life. During World War II, Margaret and Elizabeth lived at Windsor Castle, deemed safer than being in London. It was suggested that the two be sent to Canada for the duration of the war, but their mother quickly dismissed that idea. Despite the war, the two girls managed to enjoy a relatively 'normal' life at Windsor.

Touching letters between Queen's sister and Mrs T reveal their astonishing bond | Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4074628/Dear-Margaret-remarkable-untold-story-PM-s-friendship-Princess-Touching-letters-Queen-s-sister-Mrs-T-reveal-astonishing-bond-Princess-s-views-Afghanistan-Ali.html)

QuotePreviously unseen letters between Margaret Thatcher and Princess Margaret released

Correspondence between Margaret Thatcher and Princess Margaret was released this Friday to the National Archives in Kew after more than 30 years. Among other things, it shows them commiserating over the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the strikes in the steel industry.

"I suppose if one is an ordinary working man and one's union tells one not to vote for new machinery or technology because otherwise you will lose your job or your card – you just don't dare," Princess Margaret told the British Prime Minister in early 1980. "The steel strike is depressing."

Margaret Thatcher addressed Princess Margaret as "Ma'am" and also wrote at her distress at hearing Princess Margaret had been admitted to hospital for an operation to remove a benign skin lesion. She also tells the Princess of a trip to the United States.

Read more:
Previously unseen letters between Margaret Thatcher and Princess Margaret released – Royal Central (http://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/previously-unseen-letters-between-margaret-thatcher-and-princess-margaret-released-74317)

Even if this woman is Princess Margaret's biological daughter, she still would not be the next heir to British throne. There is a long list of people in the succession to the British throne who have to be King/Queen before her. Illegitimate children of the royals are excluded.

Quote

Judge throws woman out of court who claims she is the daughter of the late Princess Margaret

A British judge is said to have made history today when he delivered one of the shortest legal rulings to ever to be heard in an English courtroom.

The judge made his four-paragraph ruling concerning the case of Malika Benmusa, a woman who claims that she is the "heir to the throne of England".

Ms Benmusa claimed that her mother was the late Princess Margaret, and asked the court for permission to for her will to be open and read.

Read more:
Judge throws woman out of court who claims she is the daughter of the late Princess Margaret – Royal Central (http://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/otherroyals/judge-throws-woman-out-of-court-who-claims-she-is-the-daughter-of-the-late-princess-margaret-80378)

There is no 'English' throne and hasn't been since the Stuarts' day. So this woman's knowledge of British history is as muddled as her belief that she is Margaret's daughter. Also, all the Queen's children and grandchildren and Margaret's heirs by Lord Snowdon would be ahead of her if her illegitimate birth didn't rule her out straight away.

These claimants keep popping up every now and again. There's a man in Australia who is supposed to be a direct descendant of Richard III who had an article written about him once.

Did Malika indicate what her original name was?

Her original name is possibly there on court documents. Malika may be the daughter of some upper class Englishwoman who had her adopted and therefore there perhaps was some mystery about the birth that was hinted at as this woman grew up. I don't know.

However, for at least the first forty or so years of Margaret's life she was very much in the public eye. She would have had to have taken at least four months off to hide a pregnancy (in her youth she was very petite with a small waist) and no-one in the royal household or friends talked, in consequence? Pretty extraordinary!  Where did they hide her away, with the Monster inside Glamis castle?  :hehe:

I am surprised she wasn't aware that the throne is British and no longer English since she is from the UK. There's no way she would be next in line to be Queen. I don't think she knows how many people are in the line of succession for the British throne. There are too many people in the family listed for her to be placed in the beginning of the list.

---

Double post auto-merged: April 14, 2017, 04:30:53 PM

---

I also don't know how Princess Margaret could've hid a secret pregnancy like this. She was always in the public eye and there was nothing she could hide. If this was so, them I think it would have been reported by the media at the time. I don't think Malika's claim is valid.

QuoteJudge refuses to unseal Princess Margaret's will after request by her 'heir'

Malika Benmusa claimed the late Princess Margaret was her mother and asked Sir James Munby for permission to unseal the princess's will.

But he ruled that he would not reopen the sealed document as Ms Benmusa was "delusional".

Sir James, president of the Family Division of the High Court, dismissed her application in a historically short four-paragraph written ruling and described it as a "farrago of delusional nonsense".

Read more:
Judge refuses to unseal Princess Margaret's will after request by 'heir' | UK | News | Express.co.uk (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/791280/Judge-refuses-to-unseal-Princess-Margaret-s-will-after-request-Malika-Benmusa)

When Princess Margaret got engaged to Antony Armstrong-Jones, did Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and her daughter, Princess Alexandra disapprove?

What on earth would it have had to do with tehm?

Princess Margaret and the Bishop of Bath and Wells met Cliff Richard in 1962.   
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/1001110882`

Antony Armstrong-Jones was not only annoyed with his wife, but also with the servants for running up such large household bills.

Tony was annoyed with Prss Margaret for quite a few things wasn't he! Their marriage was about as miserably unhappy as the Wales' after a few years.
And it wasn't Tony's income that was solely maintaining the household. He must have known when he and Margaret  married in 1960 that his hitherto bohemian bachelor lifestyle was going to undergo a change. He himself had grown up with servants and he surely realised that Margaret, a very status conscious individual, wouldn't be expecting a flat, a daily cleaner and no live in staff after marriage. Surely he knew her better than that, lol?

Anyway, we don't know what raised his ire. Were the servants eating caviar and drinking champagne at every meal? Debatable, IMO. Were they leaving lights on all night or overheating the rooms. If they were they have my sympathy. I wouldn't want to freeze in a KP apartment during an English winter!

Anyway, I would imagine that like most royals Margaret was frugal about some things and just regarded others as normal and not extravagant at all. After all, she, like the Queen, had old three bar electric heaters in her sittingroom, but thought nothing of flying to Mustique every year to a fully stocked villa she maintained there. Just as the Queen uses plastic Tupperware but spends her summer holidays in her own Scottish castle.

As I recall Philip also was annoyed at the spending and bad arrangemetns in HIS household and introduced better organisation and saving of money.   But I think the queen was willing to go halfway to meet him on these ideas even if she did probably still spend rather a lot in some ways.

Vere Harmsworth curtseyed to Princess Margaret at the Gala Ballet in 1971.     
Princess Margaret with Vere Harmsworth and Harold Sebag-Montefiore at the Gala Ballet, 1971. Artist: Unknown Stock Photo: 262761020 - Alamy (http://www.alamy.com/princess-margaret-with-vere-harmsworth-and-harold-sebag-montefiore-at-the-gala-ballet-1971-artist-unknown-image262761020.html)

Princess Margaret with a happy Antony in Nassau, Bahamas on May 14, 1967   
Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Britain's Queen Elizabeth... News Photo - Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.com/license/51955438)

Fashionable Princess Margaret in 1950   
Fashionable Princess Margaret in 2021 | Princess margaret, Queen elizabeth, Royal princess (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/344103227788780384)

If Princess Margaret had married Peter, would Peter have enjoyed the royal duties and royal tours and royal events to attend?

He may have as the years went on. However there was a great deal of hypocrisy among the elite about divorce in the 1950s (for instance Anthony Eden who was in Cabinet at the time that the Townsend crisis blew up, was divorced and there were several other members of Parliament with bad marriages who would have liked to have been, but no voices were raised for a Margaret-Townsend union. The tut-tuts drowned everything out.)

The couple may not have been happy together, who knows, however the RF and elite did become more tolerant as the years progressed and if Margaret had been allowed to marry no doubt her husband would have joined her on some royal engagements in the fullness of time. In the 1950s however, they would have been expected to lead a strictly private life first.  I don?t know about royal tours though. Divorces were still a rather contentious subject in some parts of the Commonwealth like the West Indies until well into the 1960s, so they would have to choose carefully.

I thought that the compromise arranged was that Margo would step out of the succession but she would still be  a Princess and still able to do royal duties.. I expect that they might have taken a year or so of retirement into private life but the point was to give her a away of marrying Peter T wihtout losing her royal role.

In the meantime though, the old Archbishop of Canterbury and other authority figures were nattering away in her ear about marrying a divorcee. It?s hard to remember those very censorious days when divorced folk weren?t even given a ticket to walk the sacred turf of the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. I know it was Margaret?s own choice to leave this relationship and her various reasons for doing so but I can?t help thinking that a great deal of pressure was put on her in those years.

But she WAS given a way to marry Peter without giving up her royal status.  They could have siad that no, if she wanted to marry him, she could but she'd have to give up her role as a royal.. but the RF and queen did work to try and effect a compromise.  She would have had to give up her place in the succession but after all, with the queen having children, Margaret was not likely ever to be queen nor were any children she might  have.   It was a half way house but that's what  a compromise is..... 

Princess Margaret Rose during the celebration for Jamaican independence   
Candid of Princess Margaret during celebration for Jamaican... News Photo - Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.com/license/50718353)   

Princess Margaret's birth in 1930 in Scotland set a royal record. For over three centuries, no British royal's birth took place in Scotland.

Princess Margaret only had two names: Margaret Rose. However, her older sister had three names: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. Do you think Margaret ever wondered why she did not have three names like Elizabeth?

Quote from: LouisFerdinand on March 18, 2022, 07:18:57 PM
Princess Margaret only had two names: Margaret Rose. However, her older sister had three names: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. Do you think Margaret ever wondered why she did not have three names like Elizabeth?

probably

Princess Margaret arrived at the Embassy of Japan in London for an official dinner hosted by Emperor Hirohito of Japan in October 1971.   
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon arrives at the Embassy of... News Photo - Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.com/license/740418881)

Were any gentlemen of the English aristocracy considered as a possible husband for Princess Margaret?

Quote from: LouisFerdinand on June 04, 2022, 10:28:11 PM
Were any gentlemen of the English aristocracy considered as a possible husband for Princess Margaret?

Below see three of the hopefuls, albeit ones that she used as escorts in the early to mid-1950s though she was still in love with Peter Townsend. Billy Wallace, who was a typical ?chinless wonder? aristocrat, was considered a front runner for Margaret in pages of magazines like ?London Illustrated? and ?Country Life?. Also columnists in the daily newspapers would burble about Wallace and Tennant as future marriage prospects. IMO Tennant, being more unconventional in personality, may have had more of a chance with Margaret but instead he became a lifelong friend.

Princess and Escorts at Premiere The three young blue bloods who most frequently escort Princess Margaret (https://www.imago-images.com/st/0059997410)

The amusing story of the non-engagement of Margaret to Billy Wallace.

Who Was Billy Wallace in The Crown? - Facts About Princess Margaret's Fianc? (https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a14411197/princess-margaret-fiance-billy-wallace-the-crown/)

Quote from: LouisFerdinand on February 09, 2023, 08:42:44 PM

Princess Margaret with King Baudouin of Belgium on June 10, 1974   
Mary Evans Princess Margaret & King Baudouin 12036410 (http://www.maryevans.com/history/12036410)

Wasn?t Prss Margaret and Tony Armstrong Jones (newly-weds then) sent by the Queen to be a guest (and the BRF ?s representative) at Baudouin?s wedding to Fabiola in 1960? It was apparently considered by European royals to be the most frightful insult, especially as Margaret?s husband was untitled at this time. The BRF have never been very close to the Belgian monarchy but this did cause a bit of a surprise.

Princess Margaret was the first senior member of the royal family to be born in Scotland since King Charles I in 1600.

I?ve just been reading about Dusty Springfield, who was a major British singer in her day, and much admired by fellow performers and musicians. Anyway, this is what Wiki had to say about Dusty and that roaring snob with no sense of humour, Princess Margaret, when she returned to Britain from the US in 1979..

?Springfield did play two live dates at London's Drury Lane Theatre, and one charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of Princess Margaret, which all sold-out and were major successes. However, during the Albert Hall concert Springfield made the off-the-cuff remark "I am glad to see that the royalty isn't confined to the box", a tongue-in-cheek reference to her large homosexual following and the drag queens in the audience. The Princess took this as a personal insult, and later sent the singer a typewritten apology to the Queen which Springfield was made to sign and return.?

After childhood Prss Margaret seemed to stay away from the gee-gees as much as possible. I certainly can?t remember her cantering around on horseback much with Tony Armstrong-Jones. Unlike her sister and niece I don?t think Margaret was ever that enthusiastic about horses. In that she resembled her mother, whom I can?t remember seeing riding a horse even as a young woman.