Les Jolies Eaux - Princess Margaret's House on Mustique


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Thanks Duc_et_Pair.

I always find your posts - on many different threads - very interesting.


If you check post #10 on the previous page Kronprinz, there are photos of The Queen visiting Princess Margaret on Mustique, with the Duke of Edinburgh.

They did not spend the night, but slept aboard Royal Yacht Britannia.

I'm not sure if I posted it or not, but there is a first-hand report from someone, (a lady-in-waiting perhaps), about the Queen being able to swim on one of her visits there.

How she was able to have a very small taste of her sister's more free lifestyle - and how she was able to avoid being photographed in a swimsuit by being on Mustique.

I think The Queen visited Princess Margaret there three times.

There are lots of articles and videos about the Mustique lifestyle with information about William, Catherine, the Queen etc, on the internet, but I have not posted them all, as some details are not savoury.

For example, Colin Tennant's Karma Sutra illustrated tent that Princess Margaret was filmed in for a lunch after Les Jolies Eaux had been sold by her son - she had to stay with friends on that occassion.

The documentary makers caught her realising what she was looking at, and she made a hasty departure. That tent is also on the internet, up for sale.

Prince Andrew took Koo Stark to Les Jolies Eaux and there are a couple of photos of them in the pool.

A lot of information, youtubes and photos are on the internet nowdays. There are quite a few first-hand reports of the nude frolics, open-air sexual adventures, some shady characters etc. A lot I chose not to post.

Even first hand accounts of the food that Margaret and her house-guests ate - even down to the brands.

Although a beautiful place, food was not the high standard of a lot of tropical resorts these days - the logistics were harder then. Home-owners would fly out from the UK with large hams in their luggage to give themselves something to eat.

Roads were dirt tracks, mosquitoes were a big issue - Colin Tennant said to have gone broke trying to eradicate them.

But still, the idea of being free in a warm and sunny climate to go down to your private beach to swim and shall we say, experience other activities. All with close friends and company - such a different life for the Princess, where even behind Palace doors, a level of formality and ritual must have been stifling.
 
The television series referred to in this article is currently screening here in Australia.

Such a scandal at the time, so interesting to hear that the Queen was ok - at least by the time of Margaret's passing - about her sister finding some happiness in her personal life.

(Photos taken on Mustique exposed the relationship.)

The Queen opens up about Princess Margaret's love life | Daily Mail Online
 
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While checking out various instagram postings of Mustique's fiftieth celebrations that William, Kate and family are thought to be currently enjoying - forty minutes of fireworks for the Gold Gala!!! ...

... I came across these photos and descriptions of Les Jolies Eaux from the long ago "Architectural Digest" article.

An article I've longed to see/read since first becoming aware of it, but which until now, I couldn't find.


Thank you to the gentleman who first posted this.


Curryong - I love Princess Margaret's quote of the pleasure of arriving at the house.

No wonder she spent as much time there as she could.


https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf-KHoHgZ1f/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf_fMp5AXBG/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgA5jFshgVj/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgCbNb6htyp/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEk2DyBEFC/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgHD93wBxGy/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgIPTRlBjdl/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgKH8yohMG0/?taken-by=johnyunis
 
While checking out various instagram postings of Mustique's fiftieth celebrations that William, Kate and family are thought to be currently enjoying - forty minutes of fireworks for the Gold Gala!!! ...

... I came across these photos and descriptions of Les Jolies Eaux from the long ago "Architectural Digest" article.

An article I've longed to see/read since first becoming aware of it, but which until now, I couldn't find.


Thank you to the gentleman who first posted this.


Curryong - I love Princess Margaret's quote of the pleasure of arriving at the house.

No wonder she spent as much time there as she could.


https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf-KHoHgZ1f/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf_fMp5AXBG/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgA5jFshgVj/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgCbNb6htyp/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEk2DyBEFC/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgHD93wBxGy/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgIPTRlBjdl/?taken-by=johnyunis

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgKH8yohMG0/?taken-by=johnyunis

This is what the villa looks like today-
Les Jolies Eaux Mustique
 
This is what the villa looks like today-
Les Jolies Eaux Mustique


I love the all encompassing blueness - the sea, the sky, the pool.

Can imagine balmy Carribean breezes coming into the house through all the open doors and windows.

So beautiful - a true escape for Margaret back in the day when it was so off the radar and even on Mustique itself, away from everyone else, on the quiet side of the island.

We'll all have to save up and do a group booking together!
 
A nice article about the resoration of Margaret's relative Lord Litchfield's Mustique villa, "Obsidian". (And the princess's closest neighbour, just up the hill from her villa.)

Tropical heat and salty air meant the replacement of every window and the woodwork of the building.

Even so, the updating kept a great deal of the original home's style and character - more so than Les Jolies Eaux perhaps.

Even some of the replacement furniture was designed after the original.

Things so different from Margaret's day - new buildings going up in the view of her villa.

Despite today's luxury, the original days must have truly felt an escape from everyone and everything.

https://www.veranda.com/home-decorators/a22132586/veere-grenney-mustique-caribbean-villa/
 
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And now the complete episode is available on the internet - here in Australia at least, hope you will be able to play it elsewhere.

Episode 2, "Castaway" of the recent BBC production "Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal".

The first episode was also very interesting, but it is this episode that covers Margaret's Mustique years.

There are many previously unseen private photos of Margaret on Mustique. (And elsewhere - hugging a tree in Scotland, looking quite startling in a platinum blonde wig! etc.)

Wonderful that these images are now out in public.

Also in this episode is the "missing" part of Margaret and Colin Tennant in the temporary pavillion he erected on Mustique when neither of them, (I believe), any longer had their homes on the island.

This is from a documentary that actually had a cinematic release in Australia at the time, and of which there is quite extensive footage on the internet. But this section was not, until now, available, (although the DVD is for sale still.)

The tent Colin Tennant ordered for this visit, contained depictions of the Karma Sutra, and the complete footage had Margaret turning on her heels when she realised what she was looking at.

And that tent was recently also on the internet for sale.

(That documentary was called "The Man Who Bought Mustique".)

This episode also covers the scathing reaction Margaret's private life provoked. Hard to believe the shock all this caused at the time.

And a first-hand account of Margaret's accident with the hot water on the island.

Although some of the released private photos are only a quick flash, they are interesting to see as they have been hidden for such a long time.

Don't miss the photo of The Queen in the doorway of Les Jolies Eaux with Margaret.

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/princess-margaret-the-rebel-royal
 
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A new video of Les Jolies Eaux is on the internet - high definition and with wonderful drone footage.

Although the property has been re-vamped since Margaret's day - the two pavilions added either side of the pool, the clearing of some of the land running down the headland - this is a wonderful look at the location and setting.

I am unable to post a link - but for those posters interested in this wonderful place - the video was put on Vimeo last October - it runs for just under three minutes.

Simply type "Les Jolies Eaux Mustique"and then go to "videos" on Google. (There is a longer, older video also there.)

Or google "Villa Collection Mustique" and select Les Jolies Eaux from the villa list.

On the Les Jolies Eaux page the new video is at the bottom of the screen - well worth a look if you like a bit of escapism.
 

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A heavenly paradise ,no wonder Princess Margaret loved it so much.
 
A small snippet of the documentary, episode 2 of which covered Margaret's life on Mustique.

(Despite the wording, the video will play.)

And part of a German language documentary that contains the footage of Margaret realising what she is looking at in the Karma Sutra decorated tent mentioned up thread.

And the Les Jolies Eaux page from the Mustique company, that has the wonderful video of the renovated property.


https://vimeo.com/292734058


https://www.mustique-island.com/villa/les-jolies-eaux/
 
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It was at Les Jolies Eaux, that Margaret was able to have a private life with Roddy Llewellyn.

But with series 3 of "The Crown" said to be focused on this time in her life, I expect a lot more articles about that time to come out.

It already looks like it's starting with reports in Tatler and Harpers Bazaar.

And with them, new - as in new old - photos.

Here's an article with a new old photo of Margaret, Roddy and Anne Tennant that looks to me to have been taken on Mustique.

I wonder if the old newspaper front pages, with the nude hijinks photos from the time of the scandal breaking, will resurface as well.


https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/a28908055/princess-margaret-roddy-llewellyn-story-candal/
 
More about Margaret's life on Mustique from Anne Tennant's wonderful new memoir, including -

- how the princess showered from a bucket amongst the trees in the early days

- had mice climbing up her bed netting during the night

- first visited the location of Les Jolies Eaux wearing Lord Glenconner's pyjamas

- and wasn't bothered about her swimsuit being see-through when wet!


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...Mustique-wasteland-hedonistic-playground.html
 
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Anne's memoir is an easy read of a different way of life, an aristocractic way of life.

And a personal life of amazing highs and devastating lows.

I recommend it to anyone who has ever had an interest in Princess Margaret and her life.

It would also have to be the definitive word on Mustique and how it came to be.

Here are a few more snippets from the book -

First offered a plot of land while on her honeymoon, it wasn't until 1968 that it was seriously contemplated, and 1971 before Les Jolies Eaux was finished.

Prince William's first nanny, Barbara Barnes, was employed by the Tennants at this time.She was on Mustique with Anne's children, who helped in the unpacking of the furnishings shipped out for the house.

The princess decorated her new house with mostly white funiture and with floral curtains. Shells collected from the beaches of Mustique were used to fill the glass lamps.

Afternoon swims, dinner at Basil's Bar, reading until the light became too dim, then playing cards, watching the sun set into the ocean horizon - this was the way of most days on Mustique. (The early days before electricity and before today's grand residences.)

Both the princess and her lady-in-waiting had lives many might have envied - until they knew more about what both women endured.

But it seems some of their happiest times were on this beautiful little island, and I'm very glad Anne shared so much.
 
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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
Well Prince Rupert and Princess Margaret were friends and had common interests from what I looked up and his wife was a friend of Princess Margaret’s. He worked with the Rolling Stones in managing their finances, but he didn’t like their music.
 
An enjoyable documentary of Princess Margaret’s life on Mustique.

Lots of first-hand accounts, lots of old footage and photos.

I got a bit of a shock hearing Margaret’s voice and pronunciation in the short clip of her giving a speech.

 
Here is the documentary “The Man Who Brought Mustique”.

As noted upthread, this film had a cinematic release here in Australia when it first came out.

Having now seen it myself, and knowing how respectful people were at that time towards “our betters”, it must have raised a few eyebrows.

Margaret and Colin had some glorious times while perhaps not being happy people, but sadly in the end both of them lost their Mustique homes and this was filmed following that loss for them both.

Some politically incorrect behaviour and scenes caught by the film-makers, things that might not go down well these days, but, there you are.

Princess Margaret appears in the Mustique airport footage, and then towards the end in the Karma-Sutra picnic tent footage.

(There are some breaks … perhaps ad-breaks from when it was shown on tv … in the footage, then it resumes.)

 
Here is the documentary “The Man Who Brought Mustique”.

As noted upthread, this film had a cinematic release here in Australia when it first came out.

Having now seen it myself, and knowing how respectful people were at that time towards “our betters”, it must have raised a few eyebrows.

Margaret and Colin had some glorious times while perhaps not being happy people, but sadly in the end both of them lost their Mustique homes and this was filmed following that loss for them both.

Some politically incorrect behaviour and scenes caught by the film-makers, things that might not go down well these days, but, there you are.

Princess Margaret appears in the Mustique airport footage, and then towards the end in the Karma-Sutra picnic tent footage.

(There are some breaks … perhaps ad-breaks from when it was shown on tv … in the footage, then it resumes.)

I don’t believe people were that “respectful” back then. Princess Margaret got bad press during that time.
 
I don’t believe people were that “respectful” back then. Princess Margaret got bad press during that time.

Although the anecdote contained in the excerpt below from Anne Glenconner’s book is from 1975 SirGyamfi1 … and general knowledge of Princess Margaret’s relationship with Roddy Llewellyn wasn’t until 1976 …

… I think this demonstrates a bit what I meant by using the term “our betters”.

I’ll paraphrase it here in case you can’t locate it … a long article.

Lady Anne relates how the Governor and his wife would stand either side of the staircase and bow whenever Margaret came downstairs.

(Anne herself was not allowed to accompany the Princess, as people did not understand Ladies-in-Waiting were from the aristocracy, she had to use the servant staircase.)

Anyway, it apparently drove Margaret mad … constant bowing during her stay at Government House here in Australia.

And the Governor was an accomplished man, he was awarded the Victoria Cross for example.

 
Although the anecdote contained in the excerpt below from Anne Glenconner’s book is from 1975 SirGyamfi1 … and general knowledge of Princess Margaret’s relationship with Roddy Llewellyn wasn’t until 1976 …

… I think this demonstrates a bit what I meant by using the term “our betters”.

I’ll paraphrase it here in case you can’t locate it … a long article.

Lady Anne relates how the Governor and his wife would stand either side of the staircase and bow whenever Margaret came downstairs.

(Anne herself was not allowed to accompany the Princess, as people did not understand Ladies-in-Waiting were from the aristocracy, she had to use the servant staircase.)

Anyway, it apparently drove Margaret mad … constant bowing during her stay at Government House here in Australia.

And the Governor was an accomplished man, he was awarded the Victoria Cross for example.

I was actually referring to the media.
 
I was actually referring to the media.

Oh yes SirGyamfi1, I have misunderstood your post.

When I used the term “our betters” in my post I was referring to the Australian premiere of this documentary, to the well-known Aussies here who attended it. I think even the State Premiere was there.

I’ve never added the private Mustique photos stolen from the Tennant home that were splashed across the newspaper front pages back then, to this thread. I believe Princess Margaret was very forgiving, knowing the circumstances of the person involved.

Yes, the media had a field day.
 
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