Her sister may have gotten the crown, but she got the public's adoration.
This rebel princess lived life on her own terms — so did she go out the same way?
Princess Margaret's death on February 9, 2002,
was announced by Queen Elizabeth II's press secretary in a statement that noted she
died at 6:30 a.m. and went peacefully in her sleep. She was 71 years old.
Margaret was hospitalized at The King Edward VII Hospital at the time of her death,
having been brought there a few hours earlier due to a stroke she
had the previous day. The stroke then led to heart problems, the statement explained.
The presence of Margaret's children, Lord Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto, at the time of her death
suggests that the family was aware of the seriousness of Margaret's health complications.
While Queen Elizabeth was not present at the time of her sister's death, the statement revealed:
Princess Margaret had been in poor health for years leading up to her death. She'd had
pneumonia in 1993, and a stroke in 1998 led to a slight speech impediment. The following year,
she sustained severe burns on her feet in what the royal family's official website described
as "a bathroom accident." The incident left her severely injured and made walking difficult. She
made a few public appearances after that and, when she did, she was seen in a wheelchair.
Margaret also reportedly experienced depression in the 1970s, with The Guardian saying that she
sought psychiatric treatment for it. While there were reports that she had another bout with
depression at the turn of the millennium, this was denied by official royal sources. According
to royal biographer Andrew Morton, Margaret was offered little support for her mental
health. He wrote in "Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters":
Four years before her death, while on vacation in Mustique, Margaret had a mild stroke. The
Independent reported at the time that she was flown to Barbados for treatment.
The outlet speculated that Margaret's chain-smoking — at one point in her life,
she smoked as many as 60 cigarettes a day — could have contributed to the health scare. While the
princess had given up smoking by the time of her first stroke, she reportedly began smoking at the
tender age of 15. She was also a heavy drinker for much of her life — another risk factor for stroke.
According to the official website of the royal family, Princess Margaret
suffered two additional strokes before her death, one in 2000 and another in 2001.
While the death of a beloved member of the royal family is often marked by a large,
state funeral, Princess Margaret did not want such fanfare when she was laid to rest. Instead,
she requested to have a private funeral, which was only attended by her relatives and people
who'd been close to her. An official period of royal mourning was declared on September 9th,
the day of her death, and lasted until her funeral on September 15th, per the royal family's website.
While Princess Margaret had a private funeral,
a public memorial service was held for everyone else who wanted to mourn her death. Her friend,
Lady Anne Glenconner, told The Scotsman ahead of the service:
And although the funeral was private, it was quite a large affair. There were nearly 500
people present at the service at Windsor Castle's St. George's Chapel, a crowd that included family,
friends, and members of Margaret's staff. In a strange twist of fate, Princess Margaret's
funeral was held on the 50th anniversary of her father, King George VI's, own burial.
The memorial service was held at noon on April 19th, 2002, at Westminster Abbey.
The program for the event reveals that Princess Margaret had a hand in planning it. The program,
which also reveals that she handpicked the choirs that sang at the service, reads:
Among the select list of mourners invited to attend
Princess Margaret's private funeral were her ex-husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones,
Earl of Snowdon, and even her ex-boyfriend, Roddy Llewellyn.
Llewellyn was a subject of fascination to the press during his relationship with the princess,
much to the consternation of the royal family. According to the BBC,
the two met in 1973 while she was still married to the earl. Once the news of her affair broke,
a scandal erupted and her marriage ended.
"Is your relationship with Princess Margaret finished or is it intact?"
"I never talk about my private life to comparative strangers, only to my best friends."
Princess Margaret became the first member of the royal family to divorce in hundreds of years,
the last royal to do so being King Henry VIII, who infamously created the Church of England in
the 16th century in order to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to marry Anne Boleyn.
Adding to the scandal was the fact that Llewellyn was in his 20s when the couple
became involved — 17 years younger than Margaret herself. The relationship lasted eight years,
until Llewellyn broke up with the princess to marry someone else.
Margaret remained on good terms with Llewellyn and his bride.
Margaret's friend, Lady Anne Glenconner, said in the documentary "Elizabeth:
Our Queen" that Queen Elizabeth approached her after Margaret's
funeral to thank her for introducing the couple. She recalled the queen saying:
The British royal family is known for keeping a "stiff upper lip," no matter how tough things get.
Princess Margaret and her sister were quite close, though, and her death devastated the
monarch. She expressed her heartbreak stoically in the public announcement of Margaret's death,
which mentioned her "great sadness," but her actions at the private funeral
held for Princess Margaret showed just how distraught she really was over losing her sister.
Princess Margaret's friend, Princess Josephine Loewenstein,
said in "Elizabeth: Our Queen" that Margaret told her she'd only seen Elizabeth cry once in
their entire lives. Tears were rare for the queen, but she lost her composure at Margaret's funeral,
crying in front of everyone. Reinaldo Herrera, a friend of the royal family, wrote in Vanity Fair:
In another break with royal tradition, Princess Margaret asked to be cremated
rather than buried. While there is no official ban on royal cremation, The Scotsman reported
at the time that it was believed no member of the royal family had been cremated in decades,
since Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, died in 1939.
Lady Anne Glenconner said that Margaret did not want to be buried at the royal
burial ground at Frogmore, explaining that "she found Frogmore very gloomy." Instead,
Margaret's ashes were laid to rest at the Royal Crypt at St George's Chapel,
the final resting place of her father, King George VI. Glenconner explained:
"She wanted to be buried between her parents and there was only room really for ashes."
Princess Margaret championed many causes throughout her life,
with the royal family's website citing her involvement in more than 80 organizations.
Some of her favorites were highlighted after her death via a memorial website,
with the family asking mourners wishing to honor the princess to make donations on her behalf.
Mourners wanting to offer their condolences were also asked to email them in. Those wishing to pay
their respects in person were invited to write in the condolence books set up at St. James' Palace.
One mourner signed the condolence book and told the press:
Princess Margaret's death was already a huge blow to the royal family,
but her death was soon followed by another loss for the royals. Princess Margaret and
Queen Elizabeth II's mother, also named Elizabeth, died the following month,
on March 30, 2002. Buckingham Palace said in a statement:
She was 101 years old and had been ill for some time, having had a chest infection in
December, but was still adamant about attending Princess Margaret's funeral.
"The Queen Mother was in a wheelchair, and when the coffin went by she tried to stand up."
“So she could be standing when Princess Margaret's coffin went."
The back-to-back tragedies marked a difficult time for the royal family, especially as Princess
Margaret's memorial service was held just 10 days after her mother was laid to rest.