In an undisclosed stone house in the English countryside a little bit outside of Chipping Norton lives the Swedish princess who chose to stay away from the spotlight.
The small village is about one and a half hours drive from central London. The roads are lined with light stone or brick houses. They have names "Winchcomb Cottage", "West Manor Cottage" or "Hillside Cottage". Some houses are luxuriously renovated with generous patios and landscaped gardens. Others have remained untouched for several years. The oldest swedish princess has settled here, in a stone house hidden behind tall bushes. Far from both Sweden and her royal siblings, and the glamorous life of London.
And not everyone knows that there is a Swedish princess living in the anonymous house. A woman who is out with her dogs stops in the rain and says she thought princess Margaretha lived somewhere else.
- Doesn't she live in Norfolk? Or had moved home to Sweden? She likes to be by herself.
Opposite princess Margaretha's cottage lives John Pritchard. He moved here in 1984 but says that most of the people still see him as a "newcomer". John tells that he usually meets the princess when he goes out with his dog Toby.
- She is often out walking so we usually encounter each other. I don't know her very well, but she is always very nice and talkative when we meet.
He is aware of that she is the Swedish king's big sister, but he says that it doesn't affect her relationship with the other inhabitants of the small village.
- I don't think there's anyone who really thinks about it, she seems to be a person with both feet on the ground.
Another of Margaretha's neighbors tells that she has never met the princess, but that her mother has had closer contact with her. She says that Margaretha lives an anonymous life.
- I see her sometimes but it rarely happens. She seems to be very nice, but I get the impression she chose to step out of the spotlight. You hardly live in this village if you want to be at the center.
A stone's throw from Margaretha's house is the local pub. John Pritchard describes it as the focal point of the village.
- We know each other in the village because it is so small and everyone is seen at the pub sometimes. But I have never seen the princess there.
The staff inside the classic British pub The Crown know that Princess Margaretha lives just a few meters away, but don't want to tell if she goes there.
- A pub visit takes place in trust between the one who comes here and the bartender, says a woman from the staff.
Princess Margaretha has lived in England since she married John Ambler in 1964. They lived for a while in central London before moving to the Chippinghurst Manor in Oxfordshire. The husband's business activity went on worse, and it ended with bankruptcy in the mid 1990s. Then it became known that the couple separated and they were rarely seen together. They sold Chippinghurst Manor for financial reasons for close to 10 million.
Now, Margaretha lives alone in the house in Oxfordshire. But she seems to enjoy the little village, and the village's residents seem to like the princess's presence.
John Pritchard appreciates their talk while walking with his dog.
- You notice that she likes Toby as well. So we two will be happy when we meet her.
Prinsessan Margarethas hemliga liv på engelska landsbygden _ Nyheter _ Expressen
