Sunday 29 November 2009

Princess Style: Margaret

    

Photo: Cecil Beaton






Little Augury has invited me to name ten eternal beauties. I plumbed the depths of originality and included Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly , I couldn't help it. But then, casting around for some that may not be on other people's list in L A's upcoming post, I remembered Princess Margaret whose allure was displaced in the popular imagination by the slightly vacuous beauty of Princess Diana.







Photo: Cecil Beaton






Margaret, who died in 2002, was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth as most will know. She went from classic English rose to sophisticated beauty when she married society photographer and all-round creative, Anthony Armstrong Jones (Lord Snowdon as he became). Earlier she had fallen in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend but was not allowed to marry him. A small matter of his earlier divorce. This brought her the sympathy of the nation and together with her later divorce from Snowdon followed by her 'affair' (whatever that was) with the young Roddy Llewellyn, she was generally perceived to be a lonely and unhappy woman. In the shadow of her elder sister, she never really carved out an identity of her own and yes, there was whiff of scandal around her.







Photo: unknown






 I don't think she was the sad case she was made out to be at all. She had the social life of a diva and was well-known for keeping her courtiers and friends up late into the night carousing. A patron of the arts, in particular the ballet, she was highly intelligent. It was possibly the saddest aspect of her life that she never fulfilled that potential. She could behave like a diva: let her hair down, seduce her companions into thinking she was after all quite normal and then suddenly remind them of her status. But I would imagine that on a good day she was, in the words of poet Ernest Dowson, wild and sweet and witty. Amongst Lord Snowdon's artistic circle of friends she flirted with bohemia. Being friends with the genius of comedy, actor Peter Sellers, there is a very jolly home movie of the princess (presumably directed by him) doing a comic routine herself. And that was after she was filmed doing the washing up.











Photo: Lord Snowdon (I hope!)






With a flawless complexion and eyes like sapphires, Pincess Margaret was more stylish than the Queen. Whereas Elizabeth has kept virtually the same hairstyle all her life, Margaret's continually evolved. My favourite was a gamine cut with a fringe, but generally it was long and flamboyantly styled. Her wardrobe was often romantic, sometimes a little vulgar, occasionally stuffy but generally she exuded glamour. I can't get enough of looking at her as a younger woman. It was terribly sad when, at the end of her life, she was cast down by a stroke and an unfortunate accident where her feet were scalded in the bath. She was, finally, frail and wheelchair bound. Let's not go there.











Photo: Norman Parkinson [?] At her home in Mustique (That' John Lewis fabric there!)




This faintly cheesy You-tube clip brings together static images of some gorgeous moments of her life and some of the sadder ones too. Do enjoy it. (And click x to get rid of the advert)








20 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures, Margaret's tub scene is wonderful. She does emerge as one of the true"personalities" of the family-which of course is what we both like most. I suspect she had much sadness and much joy-just like most of us. Great reflective post-Hope I can get mine off the ground very soon. xoxo GT

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Gaye. I don't think we know the half of her life! But she needs to be remembered.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the fact she played with fashion and was more vibrant than her sister..
    I can't say she is the perfect beauty but in my opinion she had that immensious karisma and inner vibe that made her absolutelly stunning. She kind of reminds me Scarlett Johannson.. I know they don't look a like at all but something there is.. the lips, the big eyes...:)
    lovely post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you so much Merilin. I see the Scarlett J. connection, yes.
    Your blog is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone go and have a look!
    http://cafenaivete.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I never knew Princess Margaret and Pete Townsend were romantically involved, though I'd have been a lot more surprised if she carried a torch for old Keith.
    Lovely artwork, Merilin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oops! Different Townsend.Hahahahah. I guess that really would have been scandalous. Especially with him pitching furniture out the window of her digs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I thought she had the most beautiful wedding dress and her daughter wore a "theme" of it to her wedding too.
    Marg would have been great fun to be sitting next to at the dinner table - that is, if she liked you! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. ladyjicky, how great you too remember Lady Sarah Chatto's wedding dress. I thought it was divine and I generally love her offbeat style. About dinner, I think you'd have to be pretty much 'above the salt' for PM to give you much time. I might be wrong. Yes, if she liked you I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rose, I've been feeling so humbled by my Peter Townsend brain fart, I felt compelled to spend a good deal of this afternoon trying to hunt down an image that was the basis of an iconic T-shirt in the early eighties. It was Ike and Tina Turner, but with Eisenhower in place of Ike Turner. Haven't found it yet.
    I believe it was originally done by Ken Brown.

    ReplyDelete
  10. No, rurritable, don't give the Pete Townsend thing another thought. I absolutely loved it. Actually I thought it was an intentional joke, the way your glorious mind works. Would like to see that Turner/Eisenhower image.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I found your space here whilst doing a little research on Bunny Roger. I'm absolutely adding you to my list. You're thorough, thoughtful and, for myself and, hopefully, others, you provide a necessary resource

    You've even made me appreciate HRH here. Possibly because she was something of an underdog; a category I'm rather drawn to

    B

    ReplyDelete
  12. How charming of you Barima, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  13. She was no beauty. Reminds me of Chelsea Clinton and that is no compliment!

    ReplyDelete
  14. All in the eye of the beholder, Brigitte

    ReplyDelete
  15. One of my favorite Princesses--I have to say, I did indeed find her life terribly sad, even tragic. Think of it--she was incredibly intelligent but essentially denied an education, basically because her mother didn't really see the point (not a slam on the QM--she was a product of her upbringing). She fell in love but, due to the circumstances of her father's ascent to the throne, ultimately had to renounce that love. She then gets married to someone else who turns out to be completely unsuitable--and a few years later ends up divorced *anyway.* I've read that she could stand on ceremony about her title--but what else did she have? No training, no education--she had nothing but her station. Later in life there were calls to remove her from the Civil List which I think is cruel--what is she supposed to do, earn a living? She was born into that life, she gave up her personal life because of what she was told was her duty to the country--what was she supposed to do? Very, very sad. When her father ascended the throne, she said "Now that Papa is King, I am nothing"--terribly depressing to think of a six year old having that much insight.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Clara thank you for a very reasoned and compassionate view of Princess Margaret. I mostly agree with you that she should be seen in the unique context of royalty in changing times.

    ReplyDelete
  17. She is stunningly gorgeous. Mind you, despite being a born-again republican (and where did that get me? Sodding Sarkozy, that's where) I've rather come to like the Royals.
    PS Can I be one of the ten beauties? Pretty please?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ruby, she's a gem. My favourite picture of her is in an apricot feathered hat standing around with a lot of Ruritanian types. Must try and find it for you.
    Sorry the you tube thing's been confiscated, it was lovely, lovely. Of course you can enter the Beauty pantheon..

    ReplyDelete
  19. When i was young, i thought she was ugly. Now that I am old, I think she was beautiful...what is that all about?

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts with Thumbnails