Les Jolies Eaux - Princess Margaret's House on Mustique


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Sun Lion

Heir Presumptive
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
2,210
City
Sydney
Country
Australia
Last edited:
How lovely, light and airy it all looks, perfect for that holiday in the sun. Princess Margaret loved the villa so much, it's a shame lord Snowden wasn't so keen. I suppose it's changed a great deal since Margaret's day. I wonder whether the Middletons/Cambridges have ever considered renting it?
 
How lovely, light and airy it all looks, perfect for that holiday in the sun. Princess Margaret loved the villa so much, it's a shame lord Snowden wasn't so keen. I suppose it's changed a great deal since Margaret's day. I wonder whether the Middletons/Cambridges have ever considered renting it?
If my memory is correct, Lord Glenconner gifted it to Margaret alone, as a wedding present which miffed Snowden further. They were already not friends prior to that. Glenconner used to call Snowden Tony Snapshot.
 
How lovely, light and airy it all looks, perfect for that holiday in the sun. Princess Margaret loved the villa so much, it's a shame lord Snowden wasn't so keen. I suppose it's changed a great deal since Margaret's day. I wonder whether the Middletons/Cambridges have ever considered renting it?

A bit has been changed since Princess Margaret's day Curryong - mostly the furnishings.

This "Daily Mail" article from a few weeks ago has five photos of Princess Margaret there:

One is quite well-known, but the others I haven't seen before and it's nice to see her in different parts of her home.

Princess Margaret's Mustique villa goes up for rent | Daily Mail Online


And an old magazine article from 1976 showing the style of the house at that time:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/aww/read/222908?q=les+jolies+eaux&s=0&resultId=num0#page/88/mode/2up

http://trove.nla.gov.au/aww/read/222908?q=les+jolies+eaux&s=0&resultId=num0#page/90/mode/2up
 
Last edited:
MArgaret must have loved the place very much, and no wonder. I can remember reading about her parties there. Plenty of room inside and out, with two large swimming pools.
It looks divine. Thanks for posting, Sun Lion.
 
If my memory is correct, Lord Glenconner gifted it to Margaret alone, as a wedding present which miffed Snowden further. They were already not friends prior to that. Glenconner used to call Snowden Tony Snapshot.

Here's an article that has Colin Tennant explaining that it was his in-laws who put Princess Margaret's future husband off-side Daenerys Targaryen.

Lots of interesting details such as Margaret and Colin constantly moving the boundaries of Les Jolies Eaux - she to increase it, he to decrease it - and of Roddy Lewellyn designing and planting the garden there.

Also, various high-jinks on Mustique that were not known by the greater public at the time, but which have since come to light.

There is an interesting explanation of the formal Edwardian suits, dresses, ostrich-feathered hats and parasols worn by the locals when The Queen made her visit, and how this came to be.

And it was at Les Jolies Eaux that the Princess scalded her feet, and this article explains how that happened.

Princess Margaret: A new book lays bare the riotous antics with the lord of Mustique Colin Tennant | Daily Mail Online


And here are a couple of photos I took when I was at Kensington Palace in 2014.

This was the outfit Princess Margaret wore at a famous, and much-photographed, party on Mustique.

Anyone not around at the time may not realise the amount of newsprint that was expended on "outrage" - for want of a better term - at Margaret's holidaying life-style and secret/not so secret relationships.

And now, to me, to see this "Mustique" outfit on official display at Kensington Palace - well it shows how times have changed since then.

P.S. These links are to a photo of the curators setting up the turban and kaftan display at Kensington Palace - which was lent for the exhibition by her son and daughter - and a close up of the turban.

http://www.themuse.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/A03716.jpg

http://cdn.modeconnect.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Fashion-Rules-Kensington-Palace-Top01.png
 

Attachments

  • attachment.jpg
    attachment.jpg
    104.6 KB · Views: 321
  • attachment-1.jpg
    attachment-1.jpg
    92.7 KB · Views: 301
Last edited:
Absolutely! Margaret loved a good party with friends around her, and Mustique was a wonderful place to go a bit wild. Of course, in a much more conservative era, that was a source of outrage by press and public. I do remember the huge brouhaha over Roddy Llewellen at the time. That scandal gave Tony Snowden a 'get out of jail' card, and a divorce soon followed. Margaret must have really loved her villa and it's such a shame in a way that Visvount Linley decided to sell it.
 
Love the photographs from the 1977 Silver Jubilee visit and David is the image of his late father.
 
How lovely, light and airy it all looks, perfect for that holiday in the sun. Princess Margaret loved the villa so much, it's a shame lord Snowden wasn't so keen. I suppose it's changed a great deal since Margaret's day. I wonder whether the Middletons/Cambridges have ever considered renting it?

Two aerial photos Curryong showing changes to the buildings since Princess Margaret's time.

http://www.hellomagazine.com/imagen...prince-george/0-87-958/aerial-mustique--a.jpg

http://www.lacurevillas.com/wp-content/uploads/propimages/18347_Les-Jolies_2.jpg


Love the photographs from the 1977 Silver Jubilee visit and David is the image of his late father.

A lovely photo of mother and son An Ard Ri.


Royal relative Lord Lichfield visited Mustique.

Here are a few of his photos. (Princess Margaret is in the foreground on the group shot.)

http://www.thelittleblackgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/mustiquegroup1973patricklichfield.jpg

http://www.thelittleblackgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/mustiquelandscape1967patricklichfield.jpg

http://www.thelittleblackgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/britanniabaymustique1987patricklichfield.jpg

http://www.thelittleblackgallery.co...landlagoonbaymustique1984patricklichfield.jpg


Margaret's Mustique life. (The princess is in the foreground of another group shot.)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/74/ce/bd/74cebd5562628bed66cdb859e30b6e95.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a0/70/86/a07086d4edc68df2d8e1acdef6dd15a4.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/eb/9e/4e/eb9e4ec1bd2b0684fa4d940e65286cf4.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/61/a5/0f/61a50fdc994a113e04585d0eba390d53.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...kj3qiiG6OTK6NlUCP3QBDkKeRN3J5gZmaSim9r9xJ0sWI
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
Margaret looks as if she is ready to hold court with her friends beside the pool in this photograph. She looks deeply tanned, but of course people didn't worry about the sun's effects so much in those days. I can definitely see her son, the new Earl Snowdon, in her features here.
 
Margaret looks as if she is ready to hold court with her friends beside the pool in this photograph. She looks deeply tanned, but of course people didn't worry about the sun's effects so much in those days. I can definitely see her son, the new Earl Snowdon, in her features here.

So true about the sun Curryong.

And here is another group photo taken on Mustique - this time with Princess Margaret, in the foreground, and with her son and daughter-in-law behind her.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...ting-in-front-of-viscount-picture-id119504190


And a photo of Lord Lichfield on Mustique.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...field-in-mustique-february-picture-id84066729

In the interiew above, where he relates the extreme accident he had on the island, he tells how his house on Mustique wasn't far from the Princess's house.
 
Last edited:
A photo of Princess Margaret on Macaroni Beach Mustique.

Colin Tennant is on one side and his wife Anne - a lady-in-waiting to Margaret - is on the other.

That is a dish of macaroni cheese in front of them!

http://www.onlinepublishingcompany.info/images/7octarticle5image2_crop.jpg



A nice video of Macaroni Beach from more recent times.

(This beach is on the Atlantic Ocean side of Mustique, and is not as sheltered as those on the other side of the island facing the Carribean Sea.)

https://youtu.be/ce3aidBBB-A



A photo of Princess Margaret taken at her Kensington Palace apartment, showing her love of the sea.

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/AY7057/pri...l-collection-at-home-in-kensington-AY7057.jpg



And in her library at Kensington Palace - see the photo on the shelf. The view from Les Jolies Eaux?

http://c7.alamy.com/comp/AJ6B43/pri...ibrary-at-kensington-palace-london-AJ6B43.jpg
 
Last edited:
Les Jolies Eaux before the house was updated - Princess Margaret's son Viscount Linley on the edge of the pool wearing the red swimwear.

https://lh6.ggpht.com/_t8-Y4w1UKrc/SZmW0PCoqJI/AAAAAAAAUFM/drPugkvngwc/image_thumb251.png?imgmax=800


A group meal on Mustique - Princess Margaret on one side of the table, with her son opposite her on the other.

http://drgailgross.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/image77_0015.jpg


Princess Margaret and Colin Tennant on Mustique.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...baron-glenconner-on-the-of-picture-id84052798


Photos and an interesting article about life on Mustique in the late 60s to early 70s - quite different to today - and an a bit of an insight into how the island was in Princess Margaret's time.

http://mustique-cottonwick.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mustique-Island-Early-Years-1-500x336.jpg

http://mustique-cottonwick.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mustique-Villa-Cottonwick-14-500x351.jpg

http://mustique-cottonwick.com/history/
 
Last edited:
Princess Margaret at Colin Tennant's birthday party on Mustique -

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...d-themed-50th-birthday-of-picture-id118340697

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...d-themed-50th-birthday-of-picture-id119120093


A Mustique postage stamp featuring Princess Margaret's house Les Jolies Eaux.

http://www.michael-hamilton.com/images/MUST58395-1.jpg


A hand-written letter from Princess Margaret about the creator - Mr Oliver Messel, uncle of Lord Snowdon - of her Mustique house Les Jolies Eaux.

http://www.michael-hamilton.com/images/MUST58395.jpg

http://www.michael-hamilton.com/images/MUST58395-2.jpg

http://www.michael-hamilton.com/images/MUST58395-4.jpg
 
Last edited:
Princess Margaret on Mustique with Mick and Bianca Jagger and Caroline Herrera.

http://cochinopop.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Untitled-13.gif


Lord Lichfield at his Mustique villa Obsidian, which was situated on the same headland as Les Jolies Eaux.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...ichfield-looking-relaxed-in-picture-id3165382


Caroline Herrera at Obsidian.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...signer-mustique-west-23rd-picture-id119455948


Obsidian before it was renovated.

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...5981d5723b6e91f/1449958366083/Obsidian+15.jpg


Princess Margaret on Mustique with Caroline Herrera's husband Reinaldo.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/12/27/article-1238582-07B46D8D000005DC-80_634x605.jpg
 
The early days of the Lotty B clothing label in Mustique. Lord Lichfield and all the ladies in examples of the range, photographed in his villa Obsidian, situated just above Les Jolies Eaux.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/27/ff/c5/27ffc5518f047e1276dae5d3762f3ff0.jpg


Charlotte Bunbury - creator of Lotty B - sitting in the chair.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/75/74/71/75747113699b193ef641790fe7e367d4.jpg


The Pink House on Mustique were Lotty B is sold.

http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1920x12...st-traveller-30sept16-Graciela-Cattarossi.jpg


Kate in her Lotty B sarong.

http://www.lapatilla.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/kate-middleton-white-bikini-04.jpg


Pippa in her Lotty B kaftan.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1b/f8/a8/1bf8a8c25c870118e473d2f0b53dd9c2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Princess Margaret with her children, Colin and Anne Tennant and their children, Roddy Llewellyn and Prince Charles' friend Lucia Santa Cruz pictured in 1973. (Not on Mustique.)

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/B5234A/at-...3-lucia-santa-cruz-roddy-llewellyn-B5234A.jpg



Within hours of meeting Roddy Llewellyn, in Scotlant, Princess Margaret went shopping and brought him a pair of Union Jack swimming trunks he was later photographed wearing on Mustique.



It was on Mustique that Princess Margaret had the first of her strokes.

Dinning with friends, it was the quick action of Anoushka Hempel in having Margaret take some aspirin, with it's blood thining effect, that helped limit the severity of the stroke.



It was on another trip to Les Jolies Eaux that the Princess badly scalded herself by confusing the plumbing system and having the hot water pour out of the taps straight onto her feet, instead of through the shower.

With her circulation hindered she did not register the damage, but was also too shocked to move, sitting on the edge of the bath calling for help, which was not heard.

A staff member realised steam was coming from under the door and her detective broke the door down.

It wasn't until her lady-in-waiting Anne Tennant phoned the Queen that arrangements were made - some weeks later - to fly Margaret back to the UK on Concorde for treatment, which was not completely successful.



Royal reporter Nigel Dempster related a incident he had on Mustique with Princess Margaret.

He was driving the Princess down to the weekly "Jump Up" get-together when they hit a pot-hole in the road and his hand flew off the steering wheel.

It landed in Margeret's lap, on her hands, and she quickly closed her hand around his.

She didn't release his hand until they arrived, and then charmingly told him he should remember who she was.

(Even when swimming, a member of the group would have to swim alongside Margaret keeping up a non-stop conversation.)
 
Last edited:
New Zealand journalist Ross Waby - who was based in New York at the time - heard that Princess Margaret was on Mustique with Roddy Llewellyn in February 1976.

By hiding his tattoo, travelling under a different name and posing his family for photos, he was able to capture Margaret and Roddy sitting together on the island.

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/96c6603a90798075010a52fe880dd0ff


When the photo was published in the UK, it brought about the official end of the Princess's marriage and questions about the financial support given the Royal Family by Britain's taxpayers.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0257/3165/products/RSB47287_grande.jpg?v=1466902713


A magazine report of the time -

And yes, that is "The Queen" actress Helen Mirren at the piano - a fellow commune member of Roddy's.

The Australian Women's Weekly Trial - Powered by Trove

The Australian Women's Weekly Trial - Powered by Trove

The Australian Women's Weekly Trial - Powered by Trove


Some of shots of Margaret's beach life on Mustique.

http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/e38c6d0de...g-on-caribbean-beach-november-1977-b3p1aa.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/34/79/fa/3479faa42cae385aaec5c4793ff475d6.jpg

http://imgc.artprintimages.com/img/...me-island_a-g-4176544-4990875.jpg?w=670&h=894

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...n-holiday-on-01-picture-id477232324?s=612x612

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...dy-llewellyn-on-picture-id477232234?s=612x612

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016...end_on_a_beach_in_Musti-m-8_1457954277020.jpg
 
Last edited:
Have the Queen and Prince Philip ever visited Les Jolies Eaux?

Certainly not for one of Margaret's crazy parties, I'm sure.
 

Interestingly enough Rupert Prinz zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, so close to the Rolling Stones and the Mustique Clique was a very conservative Catholic man. His two sons both entered priesthood, one of them even at the ultra-concservative FSSP, the most traditional priestly society in the official Church of Rome. This means he has no male heirs. His only daughter, Marie Prinzessin zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg married a Count della Gherardesca. It is intriguing that such a "heavy" and grounded man as Prince Rupert could bear the unbearable lightness of the lives of the Rolling Stones or Princess Margaret on that Ibiza-clone, called Mustique
 
Back
Top Bottom