Did Princess Margaret suffer from lifelong undiagnosed depression? And could a doomed
early romance have been one of the sources of Margaret's mental health struggles?
Princess Margaret and her
sister Queen Elizabeth II experienced a profound loss at a relatively early age when their father,
King George VI, died from lung cancer. Margaret was only 22 years old when George passed away, and
in the years that followed, many of her highs and lows mirrored those of her dearly loved father's.
King George VI died in his sleep following a battle against lung cancer. As History.com notes,
the monarch's unexpected passing had an enormous impact on his oldest daughter,
Elizabeth, who was named queen at the age of 25. His death also impacted Margaret's life,
as she struggled with her role as the second born or "spare" as her great-nephew
Prince Harry infamously put it in his 2023 memoir. Royal author Andrew Morton told Fox
News that the role didn't come easily to the younger sister. As he put it,
"Margaret was faced with struggles as a spare [...] The challenge is to find a
relevant and meaningful role in life. That way you are not seen as someone standing in
the shadow of somebody else, someone who is going to be king or queen. It's difficult."
Princess Margaret's place in the British
royal family came with plenty of privileges that only a handful of people have truly enjoyed,
but it also came with setbacks and denials that were difficult for her to bear. In 1944, Margaret
met and fell in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend, who worked for her father. Townsend
was also a married father of two, though that didn't seem to slow down the attraction the pair
shared. Ultimately, Townsend and his wife divorced in 1952 and he proposed to Margaret a year later.
Unfortunately, Margaret's royal family wasn't supportive of the relationship.
Queen Elizabeth told her younger sister that she and Townsend could not marry because he
was a divorcee and the marriage would have violated the Royal Marriages Act of 1772.
"It was essentially seen as a sin to marry a divorced man."
As a result, she would have had to give up her status in the line of succession within
the family. Margaret eventually ended her engagement to Townsend,
choosing to retain her status within the royal family.
"A divorcee couldn't even enter the royal enclosure at royal ascot,
never mind marry a royal princess. It was just unheard of, unthinkable."
Princess Margaret eventually
met photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones in 1958 when they both attended the
same party — though nothing serious took off between the pair until months later. The two
made things official in May 1960 when they married at Westminster Abbey. They had two
children together, though the pair didn't exactly enjoy a completely happy home life.
As Biography has noted, both Margaret and Armstrong-Jones were fond of drinking,
and Margaret often began her day by drinking vodka in bed, an act that eventually contributed
to the many physical health problems she faced as she aged. Ultimately,
Margaret and Armstrong-Jones parted ways after each engaged in extra-marital affairs.
Despite the fact that both Princess Margaret and her ex-husband Tony Armstrong-Jones both
had affairs while they were married, it seemed that the British public turned on Margaret
following their divorce. In an excerpt from Ben Pimlott's 1996 book The Queen,
the author explains that the announcement of the divorce "destroyed" the image that
the royal family had cultivated for so long that they could do no wrong. Pimlott wrote in his book,
"Princess Margaret was somebody people had grown up with. Although marriage break-ups were, by now,
ten-a-penny in the outside world, the revelation that the perfect
family suffered from the same tensions as many imperfect ones came as a shock."
In his book, Pimlott also noted that Margaret began to encounter negativity
from the very media and press that had so often celebrated the choices she'd
previously made. Tabloid journalists began to follow Margaret and report on each man
she was seen with. This did little to improve her standing with the public.
Princess Margaret began to experience a significant mental and physical decline
following her divorce from Tony Armstrong-Jones.
It has been reported that Margaret suffered a breakdown in the 1970s,
with some outlets writing that she attempted to take her own life. As The Telegraph has noted,
though the royal family denied that Margaret attempted to die by suicide, others weren't so
sure. Despite denials from family members and her friends, author Caroline Davies told the outlet,
"At the height of her distress, and unable to sleep, she took a handful
of Mogadon tablets and anxious staff found they were unable to wake her."
Margaret also contended with a number of physical ailments, including three strokes and
a lung biopsy. The Guardian notes that her last stroke caused problems with both the left side
of her body and her sight; she was said to have grown reclusive and reluctant to leave her home.
Many people believe that though she was never formally diagnosed, Princess Margaret suffered
from depression. And like other members of the royal family who have also struggled
with their mental health in the face of huge amounts of public attention and expectations,
it seems that Margaret was largely left on her own. In his book Elizabeth & Margaret:
The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, royal author Andrew Morton bluntly states,
"Let's face it, Margaret had depression and in the Royal Family you are not allowed to be depressed."
In his book, Morton also claims that this was backed up by a friend of Margaret's,
who he says explained to him,
"No one is allowed to be ill in that family. But the family's lack
of understanding is making the princess's moods even blacker."
It's also been said that this treatment went all the way to the top. In Morton's book,
the author alleges that when a concerned friend told Queen Elizabeth that Margaret
had threatened to jump out of her bedroom window, the queen simply said,
"Her bedroom is on the ground floor."