The Queen maintained a very close relationship with both her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and her younger sister Princess Margaret for most of her life. But Her Majesty was dealt a devastating blow when both women passed away within months of each other in 2002. According to royal expert Roya Nikkhah, the Queen suffered through “extreme sorrow” after the death of Margaret because of the close bond they shared.
Speaking to True Royalty TV, Ms Nikkhah said: “So much is said about the difference about them, Margaret being this more spirited, lively one and the Queen being the level-headed monarch but they were hugely close because they lived through extraordinary times.
“These were princesses not born to the roles they ended up doing and they had a unique understanding and unique bond because of it.
“I think there’s no doubt about that landmark moment in Princess Margaret’s life, a lot is always made about her love affair with Group Captain Peter Townsend and the fact that the Queen had to make decisions putting duty before family.
“Regardless of that, they shared an extraordinarily close bond and I think you could really see at the time of Princess Margaret’s death the extreme sorrow and how moved the Queen was when that happened.”
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Princess Margaret died after suffering a series of strokes which greatly affected her health at the age of 71, a little over a month before the death of her mother Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
Asked whether the Queen still suffered from the loss of Margaret, royal author Ingrid Seward said: “I think she does.
“They have been portrayed as not being so close, for instance, in The Crown. The portrayal in that was really not a bit how I’ve ever seen their relationship.”
Royal historian Christopher Warwick suggested the pair continued to remain close in spite of some of Margaret’s “scandalous” life choices.
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But with the King’s abdication in 1937, the two Princesses were catapulted into a new life characterised by their duties to the Crown.
Princess Margaret’s former lady-in-waiting Lady Glenconner said the royal had not realised how different her life would be from Elizabeth until the two were separated and began to receive different educations.
Lady Glenconner said: “She said to me, That was the first time I sort of thought or realized that my sister was going to be Queen and I wouldn’t really be part of what she was going to do.
“It hit her quite hard that their lives were going to be completely different.”
The former courtier added: “She always minded about not being educated as well as the Queen. The Queen had people from Eton and Cambridge, naturally.
“But Princess Margaret was never part of that. Margaret had a governess and was taught to play the piano and speak French.
“She was very well read and would have really enjoyed being educated in a more stringent fashion.”
