"Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled" by Tim Heald

[ysbel]

A new book is being written about Princess Margaret and is available on Amazon for pre-ordering. It will be released July 5.

Amazon.co.uk: Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled: Books: Tim Heald

Synopsis from Amazon
The almost universal conception is that the life of Princess Margaret (1930-2002) was a tragic failure, a history of unfulfilment. Tim Heald's vivid and elegant biography portrays a woman who was beautiful and sexually alluring - even more so than Princess Diana years later - and whose reputation for naughtiness co-existed with the glamour. The mythology is that Margaret's life was 'ruined' by her not being allowed to marry the one true love of her life - Group Captain Peter Townsend. Therefore her marriage to Lord Snowdon and her well-attested relationships with Roddy Llewellyn and others were mere consolation prizes. Margaret's often exotic personal life in places like Mustique is a key part of her story. The author has had extraordinary help from those closest to Princess Margaret, including her family (Lord Snowdon and her son, Lord Linley), as well as three of her private secretaries and many of her ladies in waiting. These individuals have not talked to any previous biographer. He has also had the Queen's permission to use the royal archives. Heald asks why one of the most famous and loved little girls in the world, who became a juvenile wartime sweetheart, ended her life a sad wheelchairbound figure, publicly reviled and ignored. This is a story of a life in which the private and the public seemed permanently in conflict. The biography is packed with good stories. Princess Margaret was never ignored; what she said and did has been remembered and recounted to Tim Heald.

The Daily Mail is running excerpts of the novel and the two I read so far are fascinating reads.

A very contrary Princess - why did the charming Margaret turn into the most unpopular royal? | the Daily Mail

Princess Margaret - Scarred by a forbidden love | the Daily Mail

From what I've read, this author Tim Heald has a very detached style. He doesn't approve of Margaret's first love Group Captain Peter Townsend but he hems and haws over whether Townsend was the great love of Margaret's life.

He compares Margaret to Diana and emphasizes how polarizing she was. Apparently if you knew her, you either loved or hated her. But he saw a pervasive sadness throughout her life and which seems quite typical, he's unwilling to commit to saying why the sadness was there. Was it her thwarted love affair with the divorced equerry Group Captain Townsend? Was it always playing second fiddle to her older sister? Was it being brought up to matter and growing up in a world where the younger sisters of monarchs no longer mattered? Heald never actually commits.

It looks like an interesting book but there is something about the tone that is a little offputting and I can't put my finger on it. I'll look forward to more installments though.

[Elspeth]

Between the interviews with her family and the access to the achives, this is looking like the nearest thing to an official biography we could get.

[ysbel]

Yes, he definitely seemed to go to the source.

An interview with Lord Snowdon, the diary from the Queen's personal secretary during the Townsend affair, conversations with Cecil Beaton, Lady Violet Bonham Carter (daughter of Prime Minister Lord Asquith), Prue Penn, another old friend of Margaret, her cousin, Margaret Rhodes. He previously wrote an authorized biography of Prince Phlip.

His rather Puritan disapproval of the 'ungentlemanly conduct of Peter Townsend during his affair with Margaret seemed quite quaint.

I think I was most surprised at Cecil Beaton's venom against a Princess he had photographed so beautifully in her youth, calling her a little pocket monster after meeting her again in the 70s after her marriage was over. Something must have gone wrong in that relationship somewhere.

Overall a fascinating read. I'm looking forward to more installments.

[acdc1]

It sounds like a really interesting book, as Princess Margaret was a very interesting lady. I think that if I had access to it, like at a library or at a used bookstore, I would read it, but if I had to pay a good deal of money for it probably not. It sounds good, but detached. And I don't like that you said that he never exactly says why she's unhappy.

(P.S. I think she was unhappy because a combination of those things, plus more. She had a bit of a sad life.)

[ysbel]

Well you can read the Daily Mail installments for free. His inability to commit doesn't bother me as much now; it leaves the reader open to making their own conclusions.

I'm right now reading the part where Margaret is coming of age and is becoming a very beautiful and sexual woman - and how she is handling the reaction of men, polite and deferential from the British, but quite something else from the Italians.

Duff Cooper, Britain's ambassador in Paris, after having lunch with the King and Queen and their daughters, recorded in his diary: "Margaret is a most attractive girl - lovely eyes, lovely mouth, very sure of herself and full of humour. She might get into trouble before she's finished."

What he really captures is how young, attractive, glamourous and quite frankly how sexual Margaret was in her youth. It must have been quite a shock to society and such a stark contrast between her and the rest of the Royal Family.

He also details how attached she was to her father (and also a bit spoiled) and how lost she was when he died.

[Elspeth]

Considering how shallow some of the previous books about her have been and the reputation of this author, this book is definitely on my list.

[Duchess]

i can't wait to read this book. it sounds like it's going to be great.

[ysbel]

Well the Daily Mail doesn't advertise its installments of this book too well. I had to hunt and peck to find these. I think they're the last of them.

Blue movies and casual flings - the amazing truth about Princess Margaret's marriage | the Daily Mail

Princess Margaret: How she lost the will to live | the Daily Mail

I just had time to read the first installment about the marriage of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones. It seemed a much worse disaster than Charles and Diana's marriage ever seemed to be and by the end it seemed Margaret and Tony really hated each other which was odd because unlike Charles and Diana it seemed that Margaret and Tony were truly compatible and had a lot of interests in common-especially artistic interests.

But I think Tony was much more of a rebel and an enfant terrible than Margaret ever thought of being. It was as if Margaret saw Tony and thought "Wouldn't it be fun to be naughty," without really realizing how naughty he was. The party he invited her to where they showed porn flicks would have embarassed me to no end and I am no princess.

Even though she may have wanted to let her hair hang down, I think she wasn't ready for the life he led.

[attaininggrace]

I am reading Princess Margaret's biography by Tim Heald which is quite interesting. Unfortunately I find the writing a little stuffy and formal, though.
It does dispel many of the myths surrounding her - that she was just interested in a good time, for example, and that she insisted on being treated as a princess at all times. She was apparently quite religious.

Sometimes he refers to a man as the new 'walker'. I think that he means boyfriend as in 'walking out' but that's a very old-fashioned expression. Can anyone help please?

Lisa-Anne Sanderson Writer and Editor - Writing and editing by experienced freelancer

[Warren]

Originally Posted by attaininggrace

ISometimes he refers to a man as the new 'walker'. I think that he means boyfriend as in 'walking out' but that's a very old-fashioned expression. Can anyone help please?

The term "walker" is an expression for an escort to an event who is considered to be "safe", and quite often gay. In other words, there would be no gossip about a romance.

[attaininggrace]

Thank you, Warren. I was still wondering about that expression. I really think that the author should have made that clear.

Regards,
Lisa
bookaddiction

[Elspeth]

This book is the June 2008 choice for the book club. We'd love to have everyone who's read or reading it participate in the discussion. You can find the thread here:

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...2-a-17198.html