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Princess Margaret: Royal Rebellion

By: Stephanie Richards

Princess Margaret Rose was born on August 21st 1930 in Glamis Scotland. The second daughter in the family, Margaret was often labelled as the lively spirited one, but was adored by many. After her death, on a peaceful day in February, the world began to realize her legacy. This woman poured her heart and soul out to several communities and organizations around the world.

Margaret grew up in the royal shadow of her elder sister, Queen Elizabeth II. The sisters were constantly compared through childhood and into adolescence and Margaret found it hard early on, to live up to the standards and decorum of Elizabeth. The press dubbed her as the "Rebellious One," a child that was outgoing with a creative imagination. The press saw the Queen-to-be, Elizabeth as the serious one; charming and unselfish. Many situations, similiar to this, could have affected Margaret and contributed later on to her chronic depression.

Despite the labels of the press, Princess Margaret joined and participated in many community groups. One of the first she joined was the Girl Guide Association and was one of the first few young girls to join the Brownies in 1937.

Twenty years later her interests matured to the fine arts and included music and ballet. Following her childhood dream, she joined the Presidency of the Royal Ballet in 1957. In the same year, she was made an Honorary Doctor of Music by London University.

Here involvement and contributions to the many charities and associations pleased the royal family; however, Princess Margaret's life was anything but pleasing the world. Her love life led to one of the biggest scandals and caused eventual embarrassment to the royal family.

The moment 25-year-old Margaret set eyes on Captain Peter Townsend, a handsome air force officer, she felt true love. They were ready to be wed when the royal family made a startling discovery. This man, the princess' true love, was a divorcee. By royal decree, it was considered a disgrace to the royal family to be married to a person that had been divorced. It was a strict religious policy. The princess was forced to make a decision. Either go against her family's word or obey them. She decided she would leave the captain behind. With a heart-breaking farewell, Margaret let him go. But the whole affair left her confused and shortly afterwards, the first signs of depression became evident.

Trying to heal a broken-heart, most supporters of the royal family claim she rushed into a marriage to photographer Anthony Armstrong Jones. They were married on May 6th, 1960, five years after her break-up with Captain Townsend. Almost two decades passed and their well-developed marriage produced two talented children; David Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto. The children inherited their parents' interest and talent in the arts: David went on to become a well respected furniture maker and Sarah became a talented artist.

Unfortunately, Margaret could not escape controversy. Her marriage with Anthony ended in 1978 with a harsh divorce. This again shocked and embarrassed the royal family as it was the first divorce in the inner circle of the royal family since the days of King Henry VIII.

A tabloid once reported that Margaret was suffering from chronic depression. People Magazine reported that a royal source had confessed to them that, "she really has lost the will to live." Not only was Margaret a sufferer of depression, but she was also a "60-a-day" smoker. This addiction of hers gave her long-term, life-threatening effects, including an episode in 1985, which forced surgeons to remove a section of her left lung.

In 1998, she was dining with some friends, when she suddenly collapsed. She suffered a stroke. The following year, she was left almost totally invalid due to an accident in the bathtub that injured both of her feet.

Over Christmas of 2000, the princess was hospitalized with appetite problems. In March 2001, she suffered another debilitating stroke. From then on, she was rarely spotted in public. Her apparent heart condition had left her wheelchair bound.

Finally, on Friday, February 8th 2002, the princess suffered yet another stroke. She passed away the proceeding morning at dawn.

According to critics, Princess Margaret's life created one scandal after another for the royal family. Her failures made for great press and, sadly, many of them contributed to her depression. When she died on February 9th, the princess succumbed to her mental and physical ailments, ending her years of pain.

Even though her life was a collection of tragic and heart breaking events that were somewhat embarrassing to her own family, Margaret always kept on a brave face and found a way to lend her name and efforts to many worthy causes. Sadly, we only really saw and knew of the poorer moments of her life. However, despite the fact she may have suffered from depression, Margaret never apologized for who she was or the life she led. In her own words...

"I cannot imagine anything more wonderful than being who I am."