Princess Margaret died on Feb. 9, 2002, and with the 23rd anniversary of her passing being marked over the weekend, some stories about her spirited life have resurfaced. While the late Queen was famous for her quiet dignity, little sister Margaret lived life out loud, serving up drama and witty remarks with the same enthusiasm she brought to her legendary palace parties.
However, as Andrew Morton documented in his book Elizabeth & Margaret (via the Daily Mail) Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister could show “a resentment and indifference that seemed almost ill-mannered.”
“She could and would say things to The Queen and, for that matter, the Queen Mother that had even long-serving courtiers shaking their heads,” Morton penned in the biography.
However, when faced with one of Margaret’s feisty remarks, both mother and sister seemed to let it roll of their backs. “In turn, her sister and mother rarely reacted with anything other than calm equanimity,” the royal biographer wrote. “They had seen and heard it all before—and then some.”
Princess Margaret (right), seen with her mother and sister in 1944, was known to make “ill-tempered” remarks to the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Whether it was throwing wet dishtowels at Queen Elizabeth’s face (“She had learnt not to show too much concern as it merely pandered to Margaret’s dramatic nature,” Morton wrote) or making snappy remarks at royal events, Princess Margaret never failed to make royal life more interesting.
In one story from Elizabeth & Margaret, Morton wrote that when a government minister complimented Queen Elizabeth’s evening dress at a state banquet, Margaret couldn’t resist chiming in with “Darling, that does show your bosom too much.”
However, after three strokes, the princess—who once gave Prince Harry a pen adorned with a rubber fish for Christmas—found herself withdrawing from the parties and royal events she loved so much. “Now dependent on others to help her with the simplest tasks, she felt embarrassed and undignified,” Morton wrote.
“As her cousin Margaret Rhodes put it: ‘All her life she has been the sparkling one, but since her [first] stroke three years ago, she has lost that particular facility to sparkle,'” the royal biographer wrote.