Princess Margaret was known for her creative spirit and love of the arts, and her grandson, Sam Chatto, is following in the late royal’s footsteps. On Monday, July 13, the ceramic artist announced that he’d proposed to his girlfriend Eleanor Ekserdjian—and he made her unconventional engagement ring himself.

“I’m really delighted to say that Ellie and I are engaged. And we couldn’t be happier,” Chatto, 29, wrote on Instagram, adding, “I proposed with a porcelain ring which I made.”

Eleanor’s unusual ring is shown in a black-and-white snapshot, with the bride-to-be crossing her arms to show off the twisted design on a simple ceramic band. The handmade design is the first royal engagement ring not to feature gemstones, and Nilesh Rakholia, Founder of Abelini, tells Marie Claire that it’s a reminder that modern couples are looking beyond traditional symbols of luxury.

“An engagement ring is traditionally seen as a piece of jewelry chosen to represent commitment, but Sam Chatto’s porcelain ring takes that idea one step further by making the act of creation part of the proposal itself,” Rakholia says.

Sam, who specializes in ceramics and pottery, and Ekserdjian, an abstract artist, have connected through their creative sides, and Rakholia says that the ring “feels like a very authentic choice” for the two artists.

“Both Sam and Eleanor understand the importance of craftsmanship, creativity and the story behind an object, so a handmade ring becomes more than just something beautiful to wear, it becomes a piece of their shared history,” the jewelry pro says.

It’s possible Sam proposed with the porcelain ring and will give his fiancée another design for everyday use, as Rakholia points out that the material is extremely delicate.

“Unlike a diamond, which is valued for its durability and rarity, the beauty of porcelain comes from the skill involved in shaping and creating it,” he shares, noting that the ring “may not be designed for the same level of daily wear.” However, Rakholia says the “delicate nature” of Eleanor's ring “may make it feel even more like a treasured artwork rather than a conventional piece of jewelry.”

The couple sparked engagement rumors when Eleanor was invited to spend Christmas with the Royal Family in 2024, and she once again headed to Sandringham for the holiday festivities in December 2025. The soon-to-be royal bride also attended Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling's wedding on June 6.

As for Sam and Eleanor's big day, Buckingham Palace shared that a wedding will take place “next spring.” Senior members of the Royal Family such as King Charles—who a representative said is “very happy for them both”—are likely to attend the ceremony.

Queen Elizabeth once stormed out on her sister after she shushed her during an episode of the iconic BBC Radio drama "The Archers," and Princess Margaret was such a fan of the show that she once played herself in a 1984 guest role. Four decades later, Duchess Sophie is slipping into Margaret's shoes for her own starring moment on the radio soap opera—and wowing fans with her acting skills.

"🚨 The Archers spoiler alert! 🚨 Last night Ambridge welcomed a very special visitor to The Borchester Show, no other than Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh," a Reel shared by BBC Radio 4 and the Royal Family read. "Take a look at The Duchess in rehearsal with the cast as she makes her Archers debut."

In the clip, Duchess Sophie wears a blue patterned Beulah London dress and a pair of her beloved Penelope Chilvers espadrilles as she stands in front of a microphone at the broadcaster's Birmingham studios, reading off her lines with "The Archers" actress Susie Riddell.

Along with Princess Margaret, Sophie followed in husband Prince Edward's acting footsteps, and fans couldn't get over how natural she appeared during the rehearsal.

"She's good 😊 Must have got tips from Edward after his youthful thespian days! ❤️" one Instagram user commented on the Reel. Another wrote, "Rehearsal? This sounds flawless! The duchess is a natural."

The agricultural soap opera has been running since 1950, and while Duchess Sophie traveled to Birmingham to record her "Archers" episode, Princess Margaret went very on-brand with her '80s guest role, having a recording studio set up at Kensington Palace.

Like any siblings, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had their ups and downs, but in their situation, they also had the extra dynamic of Margaret being the “spare.” Much has been written about their relationship, but one particularly funny story was shared in the 2023 documentary The Real Crown: Inside The House Of Windsor.

In the show, Lady Glenconner, who was Princess Margaret's lifelong friend and lady-in-waiting, shared some insights into her life as a royal confidante, including one hilarious moment when Queen Elizabeth was “shushed” by Margaret.

The late Queen was visiting her sister after Princess Margaret had a stroke, and Lady Glenconner stayed downstairs to give them privacy. “I could hear The Queen going up the steps to her bedroom,” she said, adding that just “two minutes later” she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“I went out to see who it was and there was The Queen,” Lady Glenconner recalled. “I said, ‘Ma'am, is there anything wrong?’ And she said, ‘Yes, there is.’”

It turns out Queen Elizabeth had interrupted one of her sister's favorite pastimes, and Margaret was none too pleased. “Margaret's listening to The Archers and every time I say something she tells me to shush!’” the late Queen told Lady Glenconner.

The Archers is a radio soap opera that has been running on BBC Radio 4 for more than 70 years, and Margaret was such a massive fan of the agricultural drama that she even played herself in a 1984 episode.

The ever-practical Lady Glenconner solved the problem, bringing Queen Elizabeth back to the bedroom and turning the radio off. “Then I poured them a cup of tea and left them!” she shared.

Former Great British Baking Show judge Prue Leith is dishing on her storied career in her new book Being Old…and Learning to Love It!, and in the memoir, she also opened up on some of her embarrassing encounters with the Royal Family.

“I actually think there's something about the Royal Family, they jinx things,” Leith told People. The TV personality and chef noted that emotions run high when it comes to royal events—and that tends to lead to catering catastrophes.

“Because I think what happens is people get quite overexcited at the thought of them and then everything seems to go wrong,” Leith added. “You talk to any caterer and they'll tell you drama stories about the royals.”

One of her most awkward encounters involved Queen Elizabeth and a botched cup of tea.

Leith previously shared the story in a 2024 Instagram Reel, detailing the time when she was tasked with serving tea to the late Queen at the 1986 opening of London’s Queen Elizabeth Centre.

Instead of delivering the strong black tea Queen Elizabeth preferred, the Great British Baking Show alumna gave her “weak lemony tea” after the palace refused to confirm how the monarch liked hers made.

“Personally, the thing that upset me most was not giving The Queen a decent cup of tea, because I much admired The Queen and I thought, 'Poor bloody woman. She's been walking around this extremely boring building for two hours…By the time she got to me, she must have been absolutely panting for a cup of tea, and I failed completely.’”

However, Leith called the time Princess Margaret visited her London restaurant, Leith's, in the 1960s “the worst.”

In the book, Leith reveals that she stood on Princess Margaret’s toe and her “snobbish head waiter” wouldn’t serve Margaret the venison casserole she asked for at the time.

Recalling the disaster, Leith told People she “had a quarrel with a head waiter, who didn't want to give the princess what she wanted. He said, 'I will not serve stew to a princess.' I said, 'Why did I ever hire this guy? He's terrible.’”

On top of the awkward incident, the waiter caught on fire while refilling a flame lamp in the kitchen, and Leith said “the restaurant was empty, I had to marshal waiters to try and look like customers, try and look like what looked like sophisticated, smart customers. The waiters were all clicking their fingers at their colleagues, who weren't actually being waiters.”

Princess Margaret was known to be an absolute icon, soaking up the luxury that comes with being the late Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister. Less pressure, but all the benefits. She was notorious for her lavish lifestyle, with a 4-hour long morning routine that involved breakfast in bed, two hours listening to the radio, chain-smoking, a bath, hair and makeup, and a vodka-pick-me-up before a four-course lunch.

It comes as no surprise to learn that she enjoyed opulent party planning, that her former lady-in-waiting describes as “treats.” Lady Anne Glenconner told Tatler that Princess Margaret would plan these special days out, “which every so often she would lay on for the members of her household, some of her ladies-in-waiting and some friends.”

Describing the over-the-top picnics and lunches, the former lady-in-waiting said, “once, she flew us to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and we had a lovely picnic there. Another dinner she arranged for us was held at the Tower of London, where they placed a table in the midst of the Crown Jewels, so we were surrounded by them—that was a great, great treat.”

“She loved organising these special occasions and being able to control the situation,” Lady Glenconner wrote. Princess Margaret enjoyed these occasions so much that, when asked to write an excerpt for Lady Glenconner’s book, The Picnic Papers, the princess chose a royally opulent picnic she hosted for friend.

“In my opinion, picnics should always be eaten at table and sitting on a chair,” Princess Margaret wrote, dispelling any notions of gingham blankets on the grass. She planned a leisurely afternoon at Little Banqueting House at Hampton Court Palace—not a casual venue, to put it lightly—that the princess described as “surrounded by a sunken garden smelling warmly of wisteria and wallflowers, with the river flowing beneath its windows on the fourth side, it provided an ideal setting.”

To eliminate doubt that Princess Margaret wanted a low-fuss affair, she wrote “ I took my butler to ensure everything would be all right.” The menu was far from soggy sandwiches and potato chips. As she described it, Princess Margaret’s picnic “started with smoked salmon mousse, followed by that standby of the English—various cold meats and beautiful and delicious salads. Those with room then had cheeses” for dessert.

“It was altogether a glorious day,” the princess wrote, describing their post-picnic walks through the gardens and the royal collection at Hampton Court Palace. While the event was nowhere near your average picnic, the result was the same: sunshine, fresh air, and enjoyable company. “The sun was shining on one of its brief appearances that summer, and everyone was happy,” Princess Margaret surmised.

Royal bridesmaid India Hicks shared a “very nice gesture” she received from an unexpected source during a last-minute sleepover at Kensington Palace. Speaking to Gyles Brandreth on The Rosebud Podcast, Hicks shared her memories of the historic 1989 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and the chaotic traffic that lead to the “lovely” surprise gesture.

“The day was remarkable,” Hicks told the podcast host, before admitting “funnily enough, the night before was even more remarkable.” The night before Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding, there was a royal fireworks display in Hyde Park, which members of the bridal party and the royal family attended.

“Afterwards, we realized that London was at a standstill with the traffic, and I was never going to get back with my mother to Albany,” the apartment building in Piccadilly where the Hicks family has a lavish apartment. “I had to get to Clarence House early in the morning” before the wedding, India Hicks revealed, but travelling home “was going to take too long and I was going to be too tired.” India was only 13-years-old at the time of the wedding, and the night was already getting late.

India revealed a surprising royal invitation solved their traffic woes. “Princess Margaret said, ‘Look, no problem ‘I’ll take India back to Kensington Palace with me’,” Hicks revealed, referring to Princess Margaret’s twelve-bedroom apartment within Kensington Palace—now occupied by Prince William and Princess Kate.

Despite having so many bedrooms, India Hicks says she wasn’t given the most regal guest room for her impromptu night at the palace. “Very sensibly, Princess Margaret wasn’t going to waste a guest room on me,” she reveals, saying “I was put in a slightly dusty nanny’s room.” Due to the last-minute change in plans, India had nothing but the clothes she wore to the fireworks display, and was unprepared for a royal sleepover.

“My vivid memory is a knock on the door,” she shared. “There was Princess Margaret in her nightie, offering me her toothbrush.” The generous gesture of the princess’s own toothbrush demonstrates her secret maternal nature. “Isn’t that lovely?” India reflected. “I don’t think I used the toothbrush, but it was a very nice gesture.”

India’s mother, Lady Pamela Hicks, was a very close friend to the Royal Family. Lady Pamela served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of then-Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten, who was her cousin. Later, she served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Lady Pamela became the oldest living direct-descendant of Queen Victoria.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana separated in 1992, but according to numerous sources, their marriage was doomed from the start. In his upcoming biography of Queen Elizabeth, royal author Hugo Vickers also dives into how members of the Royal Family viewed Charles and Diana’s relationship and breakup, including the late Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret.

Margaret had gone through her own divorce in 1976, splitting from her husband, Lord Snowdon, after 16 years of marriage. In a serialized version of his book in the Daily Mail, Vickers said that Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, spoke to him about her nephew Charles’s marriage as 1993 came to a close.

“The trouble was that he undermined her [Diana] consistently from the start, and gave her no support,” reportedly Margaret told Vickers of the now-King. “Then he began to get difficult over the children, which was the cause of all the trouble last year.”

The late Queen’s sister added that she knew a thing or two about being “undermined.” She told Vickers, “It was the same with me and Tony [Lord Snowdon]. He undermined me.”

Princess Margaret also spoke to the biographer about Princess Diana joining the Royal Family for Christmas at Sandringham in 1993, despite her separation from Charles. “I don’t know why she wanted to come back [to Sandringham],” she told Vickers, per the author. “I longed to tell her to go away.”

However, it was Margaret who reportedly asked her nephew if it was okay to stay friendly with Diana after their split. According to Vickers, the princess said to Charles, “‘Do you mind if I go on being friends with her?’ and he said that was fine.”

Known for her quick wit, Princess Margaret remarked on their shared situation in December 1992 as she sat alongside Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Prince Charles at Princess Anne’s wedding.

“We’ve done well. We’re all divorced,” she reportedly quipped to the brothers.

Monday, February 9 marks the 24th anniversary of Princess Margaret's death, and although the stories of her vivacious (and sometimes controversial) personality live on, the bulk of her incredible jewelry collection no longer belongs to her family. Margaret's two children, Sarah Chatto and David Linley, auctioned off many of their mother's belongings after her 2002 death. Although their primary reason for selling was to pay off a £3 million inheritance tax bill, it's a decision that is said to have caused their late dad a considerable amount of pain.

Antony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret divorced in 1978, but his kids' decision to sell off their mother's wedding tiara and other sentimental objects was "heartbreaking" for the famed photographer, according to a 2023 documentary, Secrets of the The Royals.

"David Linley and his sister Sarah broke their father Lord Snowdon’s heart" when they sold 800 of the late princess's belongings at a 2006 auction, the documentary claimed (via the Daily Mail). This included the stunning Poltimore Tiara, which Margaret wore on her wedding day to Armstrong-Jones in 1960. Her husband later photographed her wearing the massive diamond tiara while lounging in the bath, with the photo becoming perhaps the most iconic image of the late princess.

"This Christies' auction was heartbreaking for Lord Snowdon…in fact, he wrote to his children asking them to stop it," Viscountess Hinchingbrooke said in the Channel 5 documentary. The Poltimore Tiara sold for £900,000 ($1.2 million), with the auction as a whole bringing in £14 million ($19 million).

Armstrong-Jones died in 2017, and in 2019, his son opened up about the decision to sell Princess Margaret's belongings. David admitted to the Telegraph he has "a lot of clutter" and that "getting rid of anything is not my natural habitat." However, the earl and his sister eventually came to the conclusion that they should hold an auction.

“You can start a museum with their name on it. I couldn’t," he said. "There were many, many reasons, mostly financial, that persuaded us that that was the correct route because, you know, when people die, taxes need to be paid."

Princess Margaret was known for her vivacious yet blunt personality, and even as a 7-year-old child, she didn't hold her opinions back. In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne, making his younger brother (and Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth's father) King George VI. For a 10-year-old girl who was never meant to be Queen, Elizabeth's world was completely upended.

In Robert Jobson's new book The Windsor Legacy, published January 6, the royal author details the aftermath of the late King and Wallis Simpson's love affair and resulting abdication. The royal journalist writes that the then-Duchess of York, later known as the Queen Mother, and her husband, Prince Albert, "were 'overcome with misery' at their new burden" as King and Queen.

Adding that life for the family "changed overnight," Jobson adds that the new Queen told Princess Elizabeth that "unless a brother arrived," she'd be the future monarch.

Princess Margaret, who was just 7 at the time, reportedly asked her older sister, "Does that mean you'll be the next Queen?" When Elizabeth replied, "Yes, someday," young Margaret "simply replied, 'Poor you.'"

Although Princess Elizabeth had to face the enormous responsibility of becoming the future Queen, Margaret's future was entirely uncertain as a royal spare.

After her February 2002 death, the Telegraph published a piece paying tribute to Princess Margaret's life, noting that the late royal "was spoiled by her parents to compensate for the difference between the siblings' futures." King George VI, especially, "spoiled her dreadfully," a source told the media outlet.

But at the end of the day, Queen Elizabeth realized her sister's burden was almost greater than her own. "Mummy and Margaret have the biggest grief to bear for their future must seem very blank, while I have a job and a family to think about," she wrote to a friend after her father's death in 1952.

You might not know Lady Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne Armstrong-Jones, but you've definitely heard of her grandmother. As the daughter of Princess Margaret's son, David Armstrong-Jones, Margarita is an extended member of the Royal Family, but she rarely attends public events. The 23-year-old, who served as a bridesmaid in Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 royal wedding, spoke with the Telegraph on Tuesday, November 4, sharing some insights about the grandmother she never met.

Lady Margarita was born just three months after Princess Margaret died, and although she didn't get to know her grandmother, the jewelry designer possesses many of the same qualities—and Margaret's engagement ring. Although she's not engaged herself, Margarita was given the late royal's ruby and diamond cluster ring as a gift from her father on her 21st birthday.

"It’s a Marguerite shape, a particular floral motif, and just so beautiful," Margarita told the Telegraph. "The fact that it shares our name made it feel very magical." The ruby ring was specially chosen by Margaret's ex-husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, to look like a flower, representing her middle name, Rose.

She chose to wear the ring to her cousin King Charles's coronation. "It was the same church that Granny got married in," Lady Margarita noted of Westminster Abbey. "I wear it to things I think she would want to be there for."

As for "granny," Margarita, who is studying jewelry design at the lchimia Contemporary Jewelry School in Florence, said it's "hard to say" if Princess Margaret would have liked her "animalistic" and "raw" pieces.

However, the student adds, "I know she had a love of natural motifs and turquoise, which was her favourite color. She liked shells too, and would happily buy jewelry on the beach and wear it to fabulous state occasions."

Lady Margarita pointed out that Princess Margaret didn't stick to the expected when it came to her jewels, sharing, "She would always buy costume jewelry, which is interesting—that way she could be big and bold. She wasn’t precious. And she was definitely a big earring woman."

Members of the Royal Family are forced to live out their entire lives in the public eye. As a result, a plethora of stories and news reports often emerge when a royal has allegedly been exhibiting strange or concerning behavior. According to a former celebrity editor, he had no idea what would happen when he invited one particular member of the Royal Family to a dinner party.

Former Vanity Fair editor, Graydon Carter, wrote about his encounter with Princess Margaret in his memoir, When the Going Was Good. Having asked his friend Reinaldo Herrera to host a dinner party for the royal, Carter extensively prepared for Margaret's arrival.

"Reinaldo went through a number of advance items that Margaret would require for the night," Carter wrote in his memoir (via the Daily Mail). "These included bottles of Famous Grouse whiskey, Highland Spring mineral water, and barley water."

Graydon revealed that Princess Margaret was "accompanied by Anne Glenconner, her lady-in-waiting, and Anne's husband, Colin Tennant, who had developed Mustique in the 1950s."

Carter was "exhaustively instructed" about the important aspects of royal protocol, and wrote in his memoir, "The evening was choreographed in a manner that would have made the master of the New York City Ballet tip his hat." For instance, the guests weren't allowed to sit down for dinner before Princess Margaret, and they also had to wait for her to "leave the apartment before" they were allowed to do so, which ultimately proved to be problematic.

"Margaret just stayed," Carter explained. "And stayed. She wasn't being particularly festive. She wasn't being particularly un-festive. She was just staying. And smoking and drinking." The later Margaret stayed at the dinner party, the more "people were starting to panic," the editor explained. "Margaret finally got up from the dinner table and we made our way the short distance to the living room. We were all waiting for her to start making her way toward the exit."

Unfortunately, the night only got more disastrous when one of the guests "leaned over in a half curtsy to Princess Margaret, who was sitting on the sofa, and as she leaned forward I guess she nicked her gently in the shin, whereupon Princess Margaret shrieked, 'You've wounded me. You've wounded me!'"

When Queen Elizabeth's sister eventually left the dinner party, sometime after midnight, the remaining guests felt like "survivors of a difficult airplane landing...as they step onto the tarmac," Carter wrote.

For whatever reason, Princess Margaret's attendance at Carter's New York dinner party was far from smooth—but it was certainly memorable.

As monarch, Queen Elizabeth II could order any food item she desired. But according to her former royal chef, the late royal was a creature of habit, and usually opted for seasonal offerings. Now, it's been revealed that the former Queen enjoyed one particular "comfort food," and continued to eat the item well into her nineties.

When asked about Queen Elizabeth's favorite comfort food, former royal chef Darren McGrady told Heart Bingo, "They didn't call them comfort foods, they were nursery foods. Foods that were served in the nursery, things they had growing up."

McGrady continued, "One of the late Queen's favorite sandwiches at afternoon tea were Jam Pennies. They were just bread and butter with jam, cut into circles the size of an old English penny. Even at 97, she was still eating them every now and again."

As for how the Royal Family's take on comfort foods got their unusual name, McGrady told the outlet, "They were nursery foods, they dated back to when she and Princess Margaret were eating them in the nursery when they were young."

During the same interview, McGrady—who also worked with Princess Diana—discussed Queen Elizabeth's preferences when it came to food. "The Queen traditionally had British food, especially if it was local food, and also French cuisine," the former royal chef noted. "Menus were written in French for The Queen."

Some of the former monarch's family members were a little more adventurous, according to McGrady. "[King] Charles loved Italian food, he loved all the risottos and things like that," the royal chef explained. "He loved the simple, clean Mediterranean diet. He loved wild mushrooms, he loved to go foraging for them at Balmoral. He would come back and we would freeze enough to last through the year."

McGrady also admitted that the kitchen staff liked to "experiment quite a lot," but "The Queen tended to stick to the same foods." He elaborated, "It was difficult to try and get new things on the menu. If I had said would you like to try kangaroo, I think she would have thrown the menu book at me."

For Queen Elizabeth, Balmoral was a place where she could truly decompress and live a more "normal" life. The Royal Family's beloved Scottish estate—where The King and Queen Camilla continue to enjoy summer holidays—provided her a welcome retreat from life in London, and former royal butler Paul Burrell tells Marie Claire that the late Queen especially loved spending time with her sister, Princess Margaret, in Scotland.

Burrell worked as a footman for Queen Elizabeth for 11 years before joining Prince Charles and Princess Diana's household as a butler in 1987, and he has fond memories of the late monarch's trips to Balmoral with her sister. Speaking on behalf of Casino.org, Burrell recalls watching "The Queen in her head scarf and kilt with her walking shoes on, surrounded by nine corgis stomping through the heather of Balmoral with her sister, Princess Margaret."

Burrell continues that the duo especially enjoyed their outings together and they would return "like two giggling schoolchildren, remembering their childhood, remembering the happy days when they were with their parents, the King and Queen, and coming back and bringing bags full of wild strawberries for teatime at Balmoral."

It turns out the royal sisters would share one sweet treat together with the (literal) fruits of their labor. "They picked their strawberries, and then the ones left over, they'd ask the pastry chef to make jam," Burrell says. "Woe betides if anyone touched it. That was their jam, and they would eat it until it was gone."

Multiple sources have shared that Queen Elizabeth would do her own dishes while enjoying picnics at Balmoral, and Burrell tells Marie Claire that his former boss was much more down-to-earth than one might expect.

He describes the late Queen as "a woman whom you would want to embrace," sharing that Queen Elizabeth "was like everyone’s grandmother" and "loved fun and laughter."

Burrell says that it was special for him "to see her in those family times at Balmoral and feeding her corgis, herself, every day with pedigree chum or rabbit caught on the estate." He explains that "the gamekeeper would shoot and bring in" the animals "and the chefs would boil it up, and they would chop it up finely" for the dogs.

But if you expect the corgis ate from fine china bowls, think again. The late Queen would "get a silver spoon and fork out" the food "every day at four o'clock, and she would feed her corgis in yellow plastic Tupperware bowls," Burrell shares.

"That was very refreshing for me to see how normal she was," he adds. "She was a woman who didn't suffer nonsense, but she was very easily pleased. She didn't ask for much."

Princess Margaret was known as the wild child of the Royal Family in her day, especially when compared to her more serious older sister, Queen Elizabeth. But according to a shocking new royal biography, Princess Margaret suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome due to the Queen Mother's excessive drinking while pregnant—a habit she seemed to have avoided when carrying the late Queen.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated biographer Meryle Secrest has written Princess Margaret and the Curse, examining Margaret's life based on the speculation that she had an "invisible disability" due to fetal alcohol syndrome (via the Telegraph). Babies who are exposed to alcohol during pregnancy can have a "wide range of physical, behavioral, and cognitive impairments," per the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

"The book says that while Margaret lacked the syndrome’s tell-tale smooth lip philtrum and small eyes, she did display characteristic mood swings, stunted growth, difficulties learning how to write, and painful migraines," per the Telegraph.

The Queen Mother, who was a heavy drinker, likely wouldn't have been told to avoid alcohol during her pregnancies as it wasn't until the 1970s that the term fetal alcohol syndrome even existed, and it was commonplace for women in the 1920s and '30s—when Elizabeth and Margaret were born—to drink and smoke during pregnancy.

However, it seems that the Queen Mother might not have drank as much as she usually did—or at all—when pregnant with her first child, Elizabeth. Per the Telegraph, the book claims that in a 1925 letter, the Queen Mother wrote to her husband: "The sight of wine simply turns me up! Isn’t it extraordinary! It will be a tragedy if I never recover my drinking powers."

Citing the research of Dr. Kenneth Jones, one of the two doctors who identified term fetal alcohol syndrome in 1973, Secrest writes that Margaret "had a poor awareness of physical danger" and struggled with impulse control, as many with the condition can do, and would "blurt out the truth."

However, there's no definitive proof that Princess Margaret suffered from the disorder.

Princess Margaret and the Curse: An Inquiry into a Royal Life will be released on Sept. 9.

Although their royal roles—and personalities—couldn't have been more different, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret shared a close bond throughout their lives. The late Queen's only sibling, who died in 2002, has long been remembered as an outspoken, ultra-glam wild child. But after three of Queen Elizabeth's four children ended up divorced in the '90s, the sisters experienced a role reversal that no one expected.

In a classic case of heir and spare, Princess Margaret is said to have suffered from an inferiority complex when it came to Elizabeth. "As a young woman she had always felt that the Queen was so good and perfect while she was very much the opposite, doomed to an unhappy marriage and a succession of unsuitable romances," author Ingrid Seward wrote in her book My Mother and I (via the Daily Mail).

Despite this, Margaret loved her sister dearly, and after her own divorce in 1978, she became the perfect person to give advice to Queen Elizabeth. In 1992, Elizabeth's only daughter, Princess Anne, finalized her divorce from husband Mark Phillips, and the same year—dubbed her "annus horribilis" by the late Queen—both Prince Charles and Princess Diana and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson announced their separations.

"For all her personal problems and temperamental behaviour, she was a natural mother," Seward wrote of Princess Margaret, who shared daughter Sarah Chatto and son David Armstrong-Jones with ex-husband Antony Armstrong-Jones. And when Queen Elizabeth was struggling with her children's divorces, Margaret was there to lend an ear.

Describing Princess Margaret as developing "a new kind of confidence," Seward wrote that the princess "felt able to give the Queen advice, rather than the other way around" for the "first time" ever.

"The ironic poignancy of this reversal was not lost on the Queen or Prince Philip," the biographer added. "This is not how anyone could ever have seen things turning out, with Margaret at ease with herself and her children happily settled, while the Queen and Philip were faced with three out of their four children getting divorced."

"Princess Margaret prided herself on being a good mother and it made her feel that at least she had managed to get something right," Seward added. "Unlike her sister, who put her husband before the children, Princess Margaret put her children first."

In his book Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II, royal biographer Robert Hardman wrote that the series of divorces impacted Elizabeth "much more than she let on." A former palace staffer recalled, via the Daily Mail, telling the late Queen that divorces were "almost common practice" in the '90s.

However, Queen Elizabeth exclaimed, "Three out of four!" in a tone filled with "sheer sadness and exasperation."

Princess Margaret was renowned for her glamour, wit and rebellious spirit, but behind closed doors, she had a less flattering reputation. Those who worked for her over the years have spoken of a princess who could be demanding, imperious, and, at times, downright cruel. One royal author has shared some insights about Queen Elizabeth's little sister and her relationship with her staff—including one story that showed "her more vulnerable side."

With a recent Channel 5 documentary about palace staffers and Tom Quinn's upcoming book, Yes, Ma'am: The Secret Life Of Royal Servants, there's been plenty of below-stairs gossip as of late. Per the Daily Mail, Princess Diana’s longtime butler Paul Burrell said that when Princess Margaret returned back to Kensington Palace, she'd "touch the TV, testing it for warmth in case the servants had been watching it while her back was turned."

The outlet also quoted author Anne de Courcy, who wrote that Margaret treated "those who looked after her inconsiderately and with maddening demands that often caused endless extra work."

A former Kensington Palace maid who worked there in the '50s told Quinn that Princess Margaret's attitude toward staff was so severe "that she was told not to look at Margaret or to speak to her unless spoken to. If she met the princess in a corridor, she was told to move aside and look down."

However, the maid in question told Quinn that she once received a rare apology from the princess.

"She bit my head off once—I can't remember why, but I had muddled something," the former palace staffer said. "Anyway, I was very young at the time and felt instantly tearful. She must have noticed because she said: 'Take no notice of me. I'm just a bad-tempered old devil who can't help it.'"

The former maid added, "I've never forgotten that because it was the only time I saw her more vulnerable side."

In Quinn's new book, he shared that Margaret would get upset if any servants were nearby when she was arguing with her husband, and (via the Daily Mail) "would almost run towards them shouting 'Shoo! Shoo!'"

The author also heard from former staffers who had witnessed a kinder side to the princess, noting that she gave one palace servant two weeks off work while she was going through a divorce "and said if it wasn't enough to take more."

Interestingly, Quinn wrote that "when she got angry with her staff, it was often because she was angry with her life and especially with her relationship with her philandering husband," noting that royals further down the pecking order "tend to be imperious with their staff in proportion to their own relative lack of status."

Princess Kate, Prince William, and their children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—recently vacationed on the island of Mustique. In fact, Kate Middleton traded her BAFTAs gown for a bikini, despite the fact that Prince William is president of the organization. As well as being a royal favorite destination, beloved by Princess Margaret, Kate and William's vacation served as the perfect backdrop for Carole Middleton's 70th birthday.

It was previously reported that Carole had joined her daughter, her son-in-law, and grandchildren on the exclusive island for the family trip. According to the Daily Mail, Kate made sure her mom had a birthday she'd never forget in the perfect location.

The outlet reported that "Princess Margaret's famed bolthole, Les Jolies Eaux," was "the only place" the late Queen's sister "could truly relax." Unsurprisingly, "Carole, too, can escape the scrutiny and expectations that accompany being the mother of one of the most photographed women in the world." As such, it apparently made sense to return to the private island to celebrate her 70th birthday

"There's nowhere Carole would rather be than in Mustique for her 70th with her daughter," a source told the Daily Mail. "Carole really lets her hair down and happily chats to anyone she meets on the island. She feels totally at ease but remains discreet—regardless of how many cocktails are consumed."

The outlet reported that Carole is a regular at the island's bar, with a source saying, "She loves a few bottles of cold white wine and leaves Michael despairing of her antics sometimes." Per the Daily Mail, Carole was joined by all of her children—Kate, Pippa, and James—along with their partners and children for the special occasion.

"Carole is queen of the island," a source told the publication. "She really lets loose, and she's a hoot. But these days she tends to do most of her socializing before Kate and the family arrive. Once they get there, Carole goes to ground and prefers to have private catered dinners at the villa." As the villa reportedly costs $46,000 per week to rent, and boasts "two swimming pools, access to a private beach, and a dining pavilion open on four sides with views of the sea," it's completely understandable that Carole and the Middletons would savor the privacy.

Princess Diana shocked the Royal Family and the world when she took part in her candid Panorama interview. But according to reports, Princess Margaret saw Diana's interview as a "betrayal," and she urged other Royal Family members to cut off the former Princess of Wales.

In the 2021 book Elizabeth & Margaret: Inside the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, Andrew Morton wrote (via the Daily Mail), "Margaret experienced a deep sense of hurt and betrayal as she watched Diana's historic interview." As a result, she reportedly cut ties with Diana altogether. "Not only did she cut off all contact with the princess, she also made it clear to her children that she did not want them fraternizing with the enemy," Morton explained.

Princess Margaret's decision reportedly heavily affected her daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto. Sarah was allegedly very close with Princess Diana, but they were no longer connected after the Panorama interview aired, per Morton.

Morton also wrote about Margaret and Diana's relationship in his book, Diana: Her True Story—In Her Own Words. According to the biographer, Diana told him, "I've always adored Margo. I love her to bits and she has been wonderful to me from day one." Sadly, that apparently wasn't the case after Princess Diana's interview aired on the BBC.

Princess Diana was reportedly "pleased" with how her Panorama interview turned out. However, in the years since the interview aired, the episode has been thoroughly investigated. An inquiry ruled that Bashir had used deceitful methods to obtain access to the former Princess of Wales, and had lied to her brother, Charles Spencer.

One of Diana's friends, journalist Richard Kay, has also suggested that the princess knew her unforgettable interview would be the end of her relationship with the Royal Family. "We all know Diana was tricked or fed things, but I learned something quite interesting recently and it came from [Diana's ex-boyfriend] Hasnat Khan, and he told me that she knew what she was doing," Kay said, according to The Independent. "She said, 'I know how the royals react to this. I know what they'll do,' and she said, 'They'll now want me to divorce.'"

After The Crown recreated Princess Margaret's marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, there was much interest in the royal couple. However, Lord Snowdon seemingly found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, at times. As well as allegedly engaging in several extramarital relationships, Snowdon also drew the ire of members of the press. And one British TV presenter didn't hold back in her review of Margaret's former husband.

While watching BBC2 documentary Princess Margaret: The Royal Rebel in 2020, British TV presenter Fern Britton took to X to write (via the Daily Mail), "Watching the documentary about Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon on @BBC2. I interviewed Lord Snowdon about 12 years ago and I can tell you he was the most spectacularly rude and uncooperative interviewee I have ever met. And I've met a few so, Bravo!"

As reported by the Daily Mail, Britton wasn't the only person to experience Snowdon's alleged rudeness. During an appearance on BBC series Great Lives, Armstrong-Jones was meant to discuss his admiration of Mini designer Alec Issigonis. However, "he reportedly demanded a glass of wine and seemed to have little interest in or knowledge of Issigonis," the Daily Mail explained. "His behavior made the presenter feel as though Snowdon regretted even agreeing to feature on the show."

It would seem that Princess Margaret had just as many detractors as her former husband. Sir Roy Strong, who had been an attendee at Princess Margaret's dinner parties, reportedly didn't have much affection for the royal. Per the Daily Mail, Strong called Margaret "so inconsiderate" in a diary entry, and revealed that he "really couldn't stand any more of it."

Strong explained, "This was a Princess who never seemed to think of anything other than everyone's role to fulfill her slightest whim."

The British Royal Family is known for its tradition of giving "joke" Christmas gifts to one another. But according to Prince Harry, one member of the family went a step too far with the present they gave him one year.

According to Hello! magazine, Prince Harry shared in his book, Spare, that Princess Margaret once gave him a ballpoint "pen with a small rubber fish wrapped around it, which he described as a 'cold-blooded' gift." The Duke of Sussex subsequently revealed that his relationship with Margaret wasn't very good, and that he felt "nothing for her, except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness."

Despite not being a fan of Margaret's gift, it's clear that Prince Harry has continued some of the Royal Family's Christmas traditions since he moved to Los Angeles.

Describing Christmas Eve in Montecito with Meghan Markle, Harry wrote in Spare, "We FaceTimed with several friends, including a few in Britain. We watched Archie running around the tree. And we opened presents. Keeping to the Windsor family tradition." He continued, "The whole family gathered to open gifts on Christmas Eve, as always, a German tradition that survived the anglicizing of the family surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor."

In a recent interview with Marie Claire's Senior Royal Editor, Kristin Contino, former royal butler Paul Burrell—speaking on behalf of Spin Genie—revealed that he once "gave [Princess Diana] a pair of Chanel costume jewelry earrings." He further explained how he "thought that was a good choice for her as she loved those chunky earrings." However, Burrell realized he should never give Diana "earrings with intertwined Cs, which would have been a bad mistake," as it reportedly made her think of Charles and Camilla's relationship.

Designer Jayson Brundson confirmed Princess Diana's dislike of the Chanel logo in a 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia. "She came out holding like handfuls of shoes and bags and just dumped them all down on the couch," Brundson said. Referring to a pair of Chanel shoes, Brundson explained, "I said, 'Well these would look great with the Versace,' and she said 'No, I can't wear linked Cs, the double C.' So I asked why, and she said, 'It's Camilla and Charles.'"

Samuel Chatto has been a royal fan favorite for quite some time. Chatto, who is Princess Margaret's grandson, made a rare public appearance at King Charles' pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace. And on Christmas Day, Chatto joined the Royal Family to attend church at St. Mary Magdalene in Sandringham, where he was accompanied by his girlfriend, Eleanor Ekserdjian.

According to the Daily Mail, Chatto has reportedly inspired engagement rumors by inviting Ekserdjian to spend Christmas with the Royal Family. The couple have apparently been dating since 2021, and they're both graduates of Edinburgh University. While it's unclear whether or not they're heading towards marriage, the Daily Mail's Richard Eden suggested Chatto and Ekserdjian's relationship is serious.

Chatto and Ekserdjian seemingly have a lot in common as they're both artists. Princess Margaret's grandson is a talented ceramic artist and was recently a guest artist at the Monumental Studio at the Center for Ceramic Art. Meanwhile, Ekserdjian is an abstract painter, film artist, and curator who has collaborated with her boyfriend.

According to her official website, "Ekserdjian's practice involves projecting the moving image onto paper or canvas and drawing from and over it, her physical and emotional responses being made visible through rapid mark-making. These paintings and drawings become lyrical landscapes which explore her evolving emotional response to the film."

In 2019, Chatto discussed his creative practice with the Daily Mail, saying, "I'm working in clay to create functional and sculptural wood-fired ceramics from my home and studio in West Sussex." He continued, "I've always had a strong affinity with creating objects, having spent much of my childhood crafting imagined landscapes and sculptural models, which naturally led me to clay during my later years at school."

Chatto revealed that his "creative practice" wasn't able to thrive until after he'd completed an MA in History of Art at The University of Edinburgh. Working at North Shore Pottery [in Caithness, Scotland] allowed Chatto to develop his skill as a ceramic artist.

"Inspired by what I had seen in Scotland, and completely uninspired by my three-month job in the commercial art market, I spent my weekends setting up a small home studio to rediscover my creativity and built a wood-fired kiln at the bottom of my garden," he told the outlet. "The decision to start selling my work comes from a strong belief in the power of beautiful, well-made objects to enrich and enhance our lives."

Queen Elizabeth hosted Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump on two separate occasions—once in 2018, and again in 2019. Since the former Queen's death in September 2022, multiple sources have suggested that the monarch wasn't exactly enamored with Trump. Now, it's being reported that the former president allegedly offended Queen Elizabeth with an insensitive comment about her late sister, Princess Margaret.

According to the Daily Mail, an insider familiar with Trump's 2018 visit to the U.K. told royal expert Richard Eden, "Trump put his foot in it by saying Margaret must have been a difficult sister. The Queen was very annoyed with this remark, which she viewed as ignorant and hurtful. She always defended Margaret to the hilt."

Earlier this year, a documentary claimed that the late Queen "didn't like" Trump.

Meanwhile, an excerpt from Craig Brown's book, A Voyage Around The Queen, revealed that the monarch wondered if Trump found her boring. "A few weeks after President Trump's visit, for instance, she confided in one lunch guest that she found him 'very rude': she particularly disliked the way he couldn't stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting," Brown wrote in a book excerpt published in the Daily Mail.

However, Jack Stooks, a former gardener for King Charles, was irked by stories regarding the late Queen's opinions of Trump. In an interview with GB News, Stooks said, "I think that this completely does [disrespect her memory]. There doesn't seem any points or reasons for this to have come about."

He continued, "To suddenly start claiming that about somebody who has passed without allowing them to defend themselves and say, ‘well, actually, hang on a minute, that wasn't quite what was said.'"

Stooks also suggested that Queen Elizabeth wasn't the kind of person who would speak negatively about others. "We know what The Queen was like as a person," he told the outlet. "We know that in her reign, she never put a foot wrong. So why would she suddenly get to a point in her life where she suddenly goes, ‘oh, let's put my foot wrong?"

Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, Princess Margaret, was known for her love of the arts and her taste for the extravagant (who can forget the photo of her wearing a tiara in the bathtub?). But another iconic figure from the 1960s recently revealed an embarrassing run-in with the royal in her new memoir—and I can't get enough of this story.

In her new book Cher: The Memoir, which was released on Nov. 19, Cher revealed the story behind her private concert with Princess Margaret, a tale that ended up being a complete "fiasco."

The princess and her husband, Lord Snowdon, were visiting Los Angeles in 1965 when she reached out to ask Cher and her then-husband, Sonny Bono, for a special favor. "Having read all about us in the English press, the princess invited us to perform at the Hollywood Palladium," the pop legend wrote in an excerpt from her memoir via People.

However, instead of being thrilled to perform for royalty, Cher—who was only 19 at the time—was suspicious. "This came as a surprise, because the old guard either had no idea who we were or thought we were freaks. It boggled the imagination how much that wasn’t our audience," she wrote. "The best that could happen is we’d live through it.”

While the husband/wife duo wanted to turn down the invitation, Cher wrote she “couldn’t say no to Princess Margaret," so they ultimately went through with the performance.

Unfortunately, the event played out even worse than Cher had expected. Frank Sinatra, who was scheduled to announce Sonny & Cher, canceled at the last minute, and they had to perform in the middle of the dance floor due to a lack of stage setup.

"The acoustics were so bad that, coupled with sound problems, we performed terribly," she wrote. Speaking of sound issues, Princess Margaret was sick with laryngitis at the time, and "asked for the sound to be turned down because she had a headache," per Cher.

The "Believe" singer added "the audience must have agreed" about the poor sound quality, "because very few people applauded."

"I think we were wearing white outfits, but we should have been wearing camouflage," Cher penned. "The whole event was a fiasco…I was mortified. It was like a bad dream that we couldn’t get out of; we just had to stand there and wait for it to be over."

However, all's well that ends well. In 2023, Cher performed in front of Prince William and Kate Middleton (as well as Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden) at the Royal Variety Performance, singing her new holiday tune, "DJ Play a Christmas Song"—and they definitely didn't ask for the sound to be turned down.

Queen Elizabeth might have had access to more glittering tiaras than her little sister, but one of Princess Margaret's headpieces is now at the center of an incredible mystery. After many assumed it was lost forever, the first tiara Margaret ever wore appeared on the head of a Malaysian royal bride at her recent wedding.

The Cartier tiara in question is known as Queen Mary's Diamond Lozenge Bandeau and was commissioned by Queen Mary (Queen Elizabeth's grandmother) and worn during the 1930s before being passed on to Princess Margaret. When the princess wore a tiara for the first time in 1948, this was the piece she chose, but it was last seen in 1965, according to Saad Salman of The Royal Watcher.

At some point the tiara was "discreetly sold off" and it was never seen again. In the words of my favorite Kris Jenner meme, "This is a case for the FBI." Or in this case, the royal jewelry FBI.

Salman tells Marie Claire that he's "been friends with the then-Queen of Malaysia for several years" due to a "shared love of jewelry," and had noticed one of her diamond tiaras shared some similarities to Queen Mary's long-lost design.

"Last month, I was attending the wedding of the Queen’s son in Malaysia when the bride wore the same diamond bandeau," the royal expert says, referring to Natasya Adnan, who wore the glittering design with three snowflake-style brooches attached.

Salman adds he "could not resist asking Her Majesty" about the headpiece "and shared a few pictures of the tiara worn by Queen Mary and Princess Margaret."

While Salman was "expecting a similar design and probably the same maker," he was in for a shock. The tiara "looked to be an exact match" and Queen Azizah invited Salman to join her at the palace "to inspect the tiara."

He tells Marie Claire that after "a close examination of the piece against the pictures and a few key identifying factors," the pair came to the conclusion that the tiaras were one and the same.

However, their discovery didn't come without a bit of drama. "Funny enough, in our excitement, the tiara fell on the floor and was slightly damaged, but will soon be repaired," Salman says. Oops.

He learned that Queen Azizah had "acquired the tiara from New York in 1988 on the advice of Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand" and "had been unaware" it once belonged to Queen Mary and Princess Margaret until Salman told her.

The royal blogger shares it's "been quite a major discovery in the world of royal jewelry," adding it was "an honor" for Queen Azizah to trust him "to reveal it to the world."

Indeed, it's not every day that a piece of history shows up like this, although last November, Princess Kate did turn up to a state banquet in the Strathmore Rose tiara, a piece that hadn't been publicly seen in nearly 100 years.

As for Queen Mary's bandeau, jewelry expert Maxwell Stone of Steven Stone Jewelers tells Marie Claire, "While placing a price on such a historic and exquisite piece is nearly impossible, after a careful examination of the tiara, I would estimate its value to be approximately $5 million." A lucky royal bride indeed.

Marie Claire has reported on the royal family’s affinity for wearing the color blue—it is basically Queen Camilla’s signature hue, and the Wales family of five is often coordinated in the color. (Once you see the pattern, you can’t unsee it.) It seems the bent towards blue goes back decades, as the late Queen Elizabeth (famous for wearing a rainbow of colors, usually bright and “can’t miss me” shades) also heavily leaned towards blue—especially for weddings.

In one of the most intriguing coincidences we’ve heard about lately, People uncovered that Her late Majesty donned blue to the weddings of her three oldest children: Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973, Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986. The color choice, the outlet reports, proved to be a “bad omen,” as the traditional something blue maybe didn’t work out for the best in this case—all three of those couples eventually divorced. The late Queen also sported blue at her younger sister Princess Margaret’s wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 and, you guessed it, that marriage also ended in divorce.

“Blue seemed to be a favorite hue of the Queen when she was a guest at a close family member’s wedding—even though it turned out to be a bad omen,” the outlet writes. “Queen Elizabeth wore blue to several royal weddings that eventually ended in divorce, from her sister Princess Margaret to three of her children.”

The odd coincidence started in 1960, when Margaret married Armstrong-Jones, who became the Earl of Snowdon. The Queen wore a blue dress designed by Norman Hartnell, who designed her own wedding dress when she married Prince Philip in 1947, as well as many other looks she wore in the years after. Hartnell also designed Margaret’s wedding dress as well as all of the outfits worn by the royal women for the big day.

“The wedding marked a turning point in the protocol of royal dress, as it was the last occasion on which members of the royal family wore full-length day dress for a family wedding,” The Royal Collection Trust stated. “Cecil Beaton, the official photographer of the wedding, described his portrait of the Queen taken on this occasion: ‘The Queen was enormously appealing to me. Her dress was quite wonderfully romantic—with a skirt of stiff folds—and everything of a kingfisher brilliance.’” 

Eighteen years and two children later, the couple divorced in 1978.

Anne was the first of the Queen’s four children to wed, marrying Mark Phillips in 1973. While Her late Majesty’s only daughter wore the same wedding tiara as her mother did for her own wedding, the Queen—once again—wore blue (this time royal blue); after two children and 19 years of marriage, the couple divorced in 1992.

All eyes were on the wedding of the century in 1981, when Diana Spencer married Charles, the heir to the throne. Once again, the Queen chose blue, “opting for a seasonally appropriate shade of the color for the summer wedding,” People reports. (The wedding was in July.) “She accessorized with a coordinating hat as well as some of her signature pieces: a pearl necklace and gloves.” 

We don’t have to tell you that (spoiler alert) Charles and Diana, who also had two kids, separated in 1992 and eventually finalized their divorce in 1996.

The coincidence continued at the 1986 wedding of Andrew to Sarah Ferguson; the Queen wore a periwinkle dress for the occasion. The Duke and Duchess of York, like Andrew’s two older siblings before him, also ended their marriage in 1992, when the couple separated (see why the Queen called 1992 her “annus horribilis”?); their divorce was also finalized in 1996. Coincidentally, the pair also shared two children.

Apparently thankfully for couples since, Her late Majesty chose other colors for royal weddings thereafter. Her youngest child, Prince Edward, is the only one of her four children whose first marriage lasted the duration; he married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, and the Queen wore purple. (They have been married for 24 years and share two children.)

When Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011, the Queen wore yellow (of which People writes “her sunny outfit matched her demeanor on the big day”), and when Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018, she wore green. Both of those couples—who share three children and two children, respectively—are happily married.

But the curse might be broken for this generation: Her late Majesty returned to her love of blue at the weddings of granddaughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice in 2018 and 2020, respectively. (The photo at the top of this article is from Eugenie's wedding.) Both Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank (who share two children) and Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (who share two children as well—Mapelli Mozzi’s son from a previous relationship, Wolfie, and Sienna, who the couple welcomed in 2021), are doing just fine.

With just around 70 days to go until the first U.K. Coronation in 70 years, more details are emerging, including that Prince George—eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales and second in line to the throne—will be a focus at the event, The Daily Mail reports.

Dr. Tessa Dunlop tells “Palace Confidential” that the immediate line of succession—specifically King Charles’ two heirs, son Prince William and grandson George—will be made very visible on May 6, the day of the Coronation at Westminster Abbey. Although many working members of the royal family will appear in the procession, the emphasis will be on William and George.

“[They] want to keep it focused on that line of succession,” Dunlop says. “So we’re going to see a lot of camera shots of Charles, of William, of George.”

At the last Coronation in June 1953, Charles—then just four years old—was himself placed in the spotlight as his mother, Queen Elizabeth, was crowned. He was seated in between the Queen Mother and his aunt, Princess Margaret, in order to make the then-heir as visible as possible.

While this Coronation is “all about King Charles,” The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden adds, “We will see other working members of the royal family taking prominent roles. We’ll see them in the procession to Westminster Abbey. They won’t be taking part in the ceremony, as such, but what you will see is a program of events around the country involving all the working royals. So that all the different parts of the United Kingdom feel part of the Coronation and of course, [we’ll] see them on the Buckingham Palace balcony, where it’ll be all the working royals together.”

According to The Daily Mail, “King Charles is understood to want his Coronation to set the tone for a streamlined and modern monarchy, while retaining some of the pomp and majesty that stunned the world during the Queen’s lying-in-state and funeral ceremonies” back in September of last year.

The ceremony on May 6 will begin with the crowning of Camilla, Queen Consort, before Charles is officially named King when the St. Edward’s Crown is placed on his head by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A procession will then lead the newly-crowned King past thousands of onlookers to Buckingham Palace, where he and other working members of the royal family will take to the balcony, as is tradition, to wave and acknowledge the crowds assembled below.

The weekend will continue on Sunday, May 7 with a concert at Windsor Castle, and Monday will see a bank holiday in the U.K., where millions of people will get a day off of work.

The modern day “heir and spare” dynamic—this time between Prince George and Princess Charlotte, as opposed to the much-discussed sibling tension between Prince William and Prince Harry before them—will play out much differently than in the past. According to royal expert Richard Eden of The Daily Mail, Charlotte—as well as, presumably, younger brother Prince Louis as well—will be expected to get a job rather than be a full-time working royal, as Harry was prior to his and wife Meghan Markle’s departure from The Firm in January 2020.

This reflects King Charles’ vision for a slimmed-down monarchy, one William—Charlotte’s father and future king himself—also supports, not wanting history to repeat itself, the outlet reports.

“From what I hear, the Prince and Princess of Wales want Charlotte, aged seven, to grow up with the expectation that she will get a job and not be a full-time royal,” Eden writes. He continued “Personally, I would prefer to see a larger Royal Family, carrying out more official engagements and meeting more members of the public. If Charlotte is to get a job and not be an active member of ‘The Firm,’ she needs to be ready to step into the breach, if needed.”

This is a huge shift from generations past, where Queen Elizabeth’s “spare,” Princess Margaret, was a working royal; all three of Charles’ siblings—Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward—worked for The Firm, with Anne and Edward still very much doing so, while Andrew’s sexual assault lawsuit forced his exit; and Harry, up until three years ago, was expected to spend his life as a working royal, as well. Harry’s disdain for his role as spare is so strong he titled his memoir just that, and spoke candidly about playing second fiddle in the book: “I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy,” he wrote, claiming that his parents and grandparents even referred to him and William as “the heir and the spare” as a form of “shorthand.” He described his life as a “mission to offer a source of distraction, entertainment, and, in case of need, a spare part,” such as a kidney, blood transfusion, or bone marrow, should William need it.

The book, though controversial, could provide needed lessons for the royal family in terms of the infamous heir and spare dynamic, Eden writes.

“The book inspires some deep thought about how to avoid any repeat of the breakdown in relations between the royal heir and ‘spare,’” he writes.

And, though Harry was the only one to write a book about it, in their own ways Margaret and Charles’ then second-in-command, Andrew, had their own struggles as “spare”—struggles it appears William and Kate are very keen for Charlotte to avoid.

Prince Harry's memoir now has a confirmed release date and title: SPARE will hit bookshelves on Jan. 10, 2023.

This title has had tongues wagging since it was announced last week, because it's such a striking one—a reference to the widespread expression "the heir and spare," whereby Prince William was a King-in-waiting and Harry was his understudy until Prince George was born.

As you might imagine, being the so-called "spare" isn't always a pleasant position to be in.

"There’s this heir and spare dynamic that we have been talking about for the last few years, in which the spare typically is so completely lost and they fall into trouble," royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told Express.

"We look at Princess Margaret, Prince Andrew and now Prince Harry. I know Prince Harry is trying to do his own thing, but I do think he is struggling."

There is a silver lining here for Schofield: She believes that Prince William and Princess Kate won't continue this harmful pattern with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

"I don’t think that it’s going to happen to Prince William’s children," Schofield said.

"I believe that this is where they’re going to break the cycle. I think that they’re going to stop with the spare talk and I think the 'necessity' for a spare ends now.

"I think we’ll see his children go off to school, find careers that they’re sincerely passionate about and be an adult in a way that we never got to see Margaret or Andrew do.

"They were just content with living off the purse, waving at strangers. I think that William’s children will be encouraged to find their purpose and pursue those things, and it not really being about waiting to see if something happens to the heir."

Let's hope she's right!

The U.K. all but came to a standstill on Monday as Queen Elizabeth II's funeral proceedings unfolded.

Members of the Royal Family were joined by global dignitaries and celebrities in an elaborate public ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, before the Queen's coffin was moved to Windsor Castle, which is to be her final resting place.

There, the late monarch was buried in a private ceremony in the presence of her family, who gathered to tell her a final, more personal farewell.

The place of her burial is rich with significance, as the Royal Family shared on Instagram on Monday.

The social media account—which now serves as the official account for King Charles and Queen Camilla, as well as other members of the family including Princess Anne and Prince Edward—posted a photo from 1947 of then-Princess Elizabeth, alongside her then-fiancé Philip Mountbatten, her mom and dad, and her sister.

They wrote, "This evening a Private Burial will take place in The King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor.

"The Queen will be Laid to Rest with her late husband The Duke of Edinburgh, alongside her father King George VI, mother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and sister Princess Margaret."

Later that day, the Royal Family shared a second photo of the Queen taking a country walk (judging by her casual attire, I would guess it was taken near Balmoral, though I haven't been able to verify this).

They captioned this photo, "‘May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest.’

"In loving memory of Her Majesty The Queen.

"1926 - 2022"

The Queen's final journey will soon be coming to a close.

After she passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II's coffin was transported south to Edinburgh, where it was brought to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (her residence in the Scottish capital), followed by St. Giles' Cathedral.

From there, the coffin transporting Her Majesty was flown to London, where it was brought to her longtime home at Buckingham Palace, which the late monarch visits for the last time.

At Buckingham, after driving past crowds of well wishers, the Queen was received by her closest family members on Tuesday evening, which included Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

"As Her Majesty The Queen’s coffin lands at Northolt it can be revealed that it will be received at Buckingham Palace by The King, The Queen Consort, her children and grandchildren - as well as their spouses - in addition to her niece and nephew, Lady Sarah Chatto and Earl Snowdon," royal reporter Rebecca English wrote on Twitter. Lady Sarah and David, Earl Snowdon, are the children of the late Princess Margaret.

"This deeply personal moment, the first time some of her family will have seen her coffin in person, will be private with no images released," English continued.

Instagram account @history_royals shared photos of King Charles and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Catherine, and Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan arriving at the Palace in separate cars and all dressed in mourning.

On Twitter, English added, "Princess Anne, of course, has accompanied her mother’s coffin from Balmoral to Edinburgh, and down to London. In a deeply moving statement released by Buckingham Palace tonight she speaks of how she was 'fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest Mother’s life.'"

English mirrored the feelings of many royal supporters when she concluded, "It feel [sic] so real now as Her Majesty The Queen returns for the final time to her official London residence, Buckingham Palace."

From Buckingham Palace, the Queen's coffin will be transported today, Sept. 14, to Westminster Hall in London, with Princes William and Harry walking together behind it, as reported by the BBC.

Royal author Omid Scobie tweeted "Details on Wednesday’s procession to Westminster Hall, which will see King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Prince William, Prince Harry join on foot. Camilla, Queen Consort, Countess Sophie, Princess Kate and Duchess Meghan travel by car."

He shared a timetable of the procession, short service, and the Queen's "lying in state."

Lying in state means that the Queen's coffin will remain at Westminster Hall from 5 p.m. U.K. time on Sept. 14th until 6:30 a.m. on the day of her funeral, Monday, Sept. 19. There, members of the public will be able to pay their respects to the late monarch 24 hours a day, the BBC reports.

The Royal Family caused controversy when they decided that the disgraced Prince Andrew would be allowed to wear military uniform at the final vigil in Westminster Hall, while Prince Harry would not be.

The Duke of Sussex, however, wished to shut down the noise around this. A spokesperson for him said, "[Prince Harry] will wear a morning suit throughout events honouring his grandmother. His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II."

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth at the age of 96 on September 8, all eyes turned to Buckingham Palace for next steps regarding her funeral proceedings. “Operation London Bridge,” the code name for the the plans, will have been put into effect immediately following her passing.

Based on documents obtained by Politico in 2021 the first step was for Elizabeth’s private secretary Edward Young to info all high-ranking officials about the news of the Queen’s death. Once the family had been notified, every flag at Whitehall, where the British government is housed in London, would have been be lowered to half-mast. 

The Queen left Balmoral for the last time on Sunday, September 11, after her oak coffin sat in the ballroom at the estate where members of her family could pay their respects to the longest-reigning monarch. The journey from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh included a six-hour drive through Scotland.  

On Monday, September 12, the Queen's coffin will continue on to St. Giles’ Cathedral for a prayer service attended by King Charles III, the Queen Consort, and members of Scotish society. She is set to remain in Edinburgh until the evening of Tuesday, September 12 before arriving in London the following day, accompanied by Princess Anne. It is set to arrive at Buckingham Palace that same day.  

Finally, the Queen's coffin will travel via carriage in a silent procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, the oldest portion of the Palace of Westminster, where it will stay until the funeral. Once the coffin arrives at Westminster Hall, there will be a short church service lead by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Members of the public will be able to pay their respects to the monarch at Westminster Hall from September 15 until September 18 as she lies in state. 

When Will Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral Take Place?

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral will take place on Monday, September 19. The date will also be a national holiday around the nation. It will be held at 11 a.m. BST—that's 6 a.m. EST—with her coffin being taken in a procession from Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey.

The funeral will be broadcast around the world. If you're planning on getting up early to tune in, check out Marie Claire's guide on how to stream the funeral in the United States. 

Where Will Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral Take Place?

The official funeral service will be held at the iconic Westminster Abbey, where Her Majesty was crowned on June 2, 1953. During the service, there will be a two minute-silence held across the nation in remembrance of Her Majesty. The British government has declared a period of mourning that is expected to continue after the funeral service, which President Joe Biden is expected to attend.

Following the ceremony, a ceremonial procession will accompany the coffin to Hyde Park, where it will then be transferred from a gun carriage to an official state hearse. The late Queen will most likely be buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, more specifically in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. Both her father, the late King George VI, the Queen Mother, and her sister, Princess Margaret, are also laid to rest in the same place. The body of her late husband, Prince Philip, will also be moved to be alongside her. It’s been said that Windsor Castle was her favorite of all the royal homes. 

When it comes to the ongoing rift with his younger brother, Prince Harry, it seems future king Prince William has made a conscious decision to put the Firm before family, according to Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, a name longtime royal followers might recognize as William and Harry’s first private secretary who joined the ranks in 2005. (Quick delineation for those new to the royal fold: “The Firm” is a moniker used to describe the working operations of the British Royal Family. “The family” is the actual family unit.)

In a Channel 4 docuseries called The Real Windsors: A Very Modern Prince?—and reported on by The Sun—Lowther-Pinkerton says the Duke of Cambridge will always put the interests of the monarchy before his relationship with his brother, which has been strained for years and reached a fever pitch after Harry and wife Meghan Markle stepped back as working members of the Firm in early 2020. Lowther-Pinkerton says there are many examples where William has opted to take “the more difficult route” in order to do what is honorable, The Sun reports, “and the duke will never waiver from right or wrong,” the outlet writes.

“He has made a conscious decision that duty comes first,” Lowther-Pinkerton says in the docuseries.

Lowther-Pinkerton worked side-by-side with William for years and says “Prince William is very analytical and asks all the questions. And makes sure that he’s clear what you’re asking him to do. His sort of moral compass is set absolutely rigidly due north. He has the clearest understanding of almost anybody I know of what is right and what is wrong, and he won’t waiver from it, even if it means he’s going to take a hit.”

Royal expert Katie Nicholl also appears on the forthcoming docuseries, and says “I think William had to park being a loving brother who was absolutely his brother’s number one fan to put on a different hat. It was putting the future of the Firm and the best interests of the monarchy before himself and before his brother and before their relationship.”

Lowther-Pinkerton worked for the brothers for eight years, until his departure in 2013.

“There are many examples of when I worked for him [William] where it would have been very easy to take one route,” he says. “But it wouldn’t have been the honorable or the right thing to do, so he took the more difficult route.”

William—second in line to the throne behind his father, Prince Charles—considers his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, a role model; royal history aficionados (or viewers of The Crown) remember that Her Majesty at one point was forced to choose the Firm over her own sibling, younger sister Princess Margaret. (Ultimately the sisters worked through Margaret’s desire to marry Peter Townsend and were close friends throughout the rest of Margaret’s life. She died in 2002.)

“He’s inevitably drawn a lot from the example that she’s given over the years,” Lowther-Pinkerton says of William’s admiration of the Queen, saying he believes the monarchy will be in safe hands when it’s William’s turn to reign. “He’s got some great role models there. In a way, he’s lucky because he sits at the bottom of the pile in terms of the generational way of looking at it. And he can sort of look at those generations and draw on them. The monarchy has always changed, it’s always evolved—each generation will do things slightly differently, there’ll be lots of common themes. That’s why it’s an evolution, not a revolution.”

It’s a question countless royal followers have asked themselves: If Princess Diana were alive today, what would she think of this mess between her sons, brothers Prince William and Prince Harry?

According to the late Princess of Wales’ biographer, Andrew Morton, she would be “mortified” by her sons’ “emotional tangle.”

Speaking on a recent episode of The Mirror’s podcast, “Pod Save the Queen,” Morton says “there is no question about it, she’d be mortified that William and Harry have got themselves into this emotional tangle. She always said to me on numerous occasions that Harry was William’s wingman, that he was the second boy born into the royal family. She even looked at the past and pointed out that most members of the royal family just have a girl and a boy like Princess Margaret, or two girls like Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.”

Diana saw her younger son as a support pillar to her elder son, who will one day inherit the throne and all of the highs and lows that come along with having the top job.

“She really felt that Harry was there to support William in a very lonely job,” Morton says. “She would find it very difficult that they are not communicating, at least not in public.”

Morton also says he sees Diana in her younger son, especially when the Duke of Sussex once appeared at royal engagements prior to his step back as a working royal in January 2020.

“Prince Harry was and is a natural,” he says. “He and his wife have got charisma, and there is no denying that. People do respond to them in a very positive way when they meet him. There is obviously a lot of negativity surrounding their behavior and their policies, but Harry has always been someone who connects. And when I see Harry kneeling down with his arm around some kid, I am just watching Diana. It transports you back 25, 30 years.”

Before June 2021, only devout royal followers had probably ever heard of the name “Lilibet.”

Growing up, Lilibet was Her Majesty’s childhood nickname, one “fondly adopted as a moniker by the Queen’s grandparents and parents during her early childhood when she struggled to pronounce her name, calling herself Lilibet instead,” The Mirror reports.

The name became well-known in pop culture—to royal followers and beyond—when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle opted to name their daughter Lilibet Diana, after the Queen and, of course, the late Princess of Wales. She was born June 4, 2021.

But you might be surprised to learn that no one calls the Queen “Lilibet” anymore—and it has nothing to do with baby Lili, who just turned a year old last weekend.

The Queen’s late husband Prince Philip—who died at 99 years old in April 2021—was the last person to use the nickname. He had known Her Majesty since she was a young girl, and, like her family did, took to calling her the nickname, as well. Now that Philip has passed and all of the Queen’s older family members who knew her as a child are gone, the nickname left with Philip, the outlet reports.

According to The Daily Star (via The Mirror), the then Princess Elizabeth would often sign off letters with “Lilibet,” including in a thank you note addressed to her grandmother, Queen Mary, which reads “Darling Granny, Thank you very much for the lovely doll’s house. I do love it, and I have unpacked the dining room and the hall. Love from Lilibet xxx.”

Her Majesty’s beloved father, King George VI, has been quoted as saying “Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy,” referring to the Queen’s younger sister, Princess Margaret.

Movingly, in a handwritten note left atop the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin at his funeral last April, the Queen appeared to have heartbreakingly signed it from Lilibet. The couple were married for over 73 years.

That said, Her Majesty still has other nicknames she goes by: she is “Mummy” to Prince Charles, “who referred to her as this during his speech for her 92nd birthday, which saw her roll her eyes and laugh along with the amused audience,” The Mirror reports. Prince William and Prince Harry were spotted cheering on their “Granny” as her stunt double parachuted into the stadium during the 2012 London Olympics. And the Duchess of Cambridge revealed that Prince George and Princess Charlotte call their great-grandmother “Gan-Gan.” 

For months, we've been hearing whispers that the Cambridge family is seriously considering moving to Windsor, Berkshire, to be close to the Queen—who has taken up permanent residence at Windsor Castle.

In recent weeks, there were rumors that the move was planned for this summer. And as we inch closer to the season in question, these rumors appear more and more founded.

In the latest news, The Sun reports that Prince William and Kate Middleton even have their hearts set on a first-choice home in the town, where they reportedly want to live with children George, 8, Charlotte, 7, and Louis, 4.

"Finding a way to make Adelaide Cottage work seems to be the best and only option," a royal insider told the publication. "There are issues with all the other houses, so Adelaide will be the favorite."

Adelaide Cottage is one of the more modest homes belonging to the Queen. Fans of The Crown will enjoy this juicy tidbit: Group Captain Peter Townsend, whom the young Princess Margaret wanted to marry, lived there for several years in the late '40s and early '50s. Frogmore House was another option for the Cambridges, but would apparently cost too much to turn into a functional home.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's current country escape—Anmer Hall—is too far north to commute back to London for work. The couple is said to love the countryside, which is one reason why they're eager to move to Windsor. There, they'll be close to both the Queen and the Middletons, who live in Bucklebury Manor, less than an hour's drive away.

Another reason for the move is the children's schooling. The duke and duchess are apparently squabbling over whether to send Prince George to boarding school or not, but many of the schools they've been considering are close to Windsor, meaning he wouldn't necessarily need to live away from home in order to attend.

We'll just have to see what happens as it happens.

As polished as the royal family might be, it’s always refreshing to hear that they have more in common with us normies than meets the eye. For example, apparently as kids, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret had some serious sibling fights—a royal biographer even described Elizabeth as having a “good left hook.” 

Princess Margaret, who passed away in 2002, was only four years younger than her sister, and though she didn’t have the responsibilities of Elizabeth, Margaret’s altruism and biting sense of humor made her one of the most beloved royals in history. (While it’s obviously fictionalized, The Crown did make Margaret seem like a ball to hang out with.) The sisters’ relationship stayed close, as they relied on each other in the face of intense public scrutiny.

But they also had their own sibling rivalry as kids. According to Express UK, quoting royal expert Victoria Arbiter’s comments on the subject from the documentary Princess Margaret: Rebel Without a Crown, “They could go at it.” She continued, “Marion Crawford, their governess, had said they didn’t hesitate to argue and fight. Elizabeth apparently had a good left hook whereas Margaret wasn’t shy to bite her sister in return.”

Can you imagine biting the future Queen? This glimpse into the life of these two major figures of the 20th and 21st century reveals the tightness of their relationship, showing that, despite the burden of their royal lineage, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret were normal kids, growing up and, yes, even occasionally having it out. 

Arbiter also added that, even with the fighting and biting, Elizabeth and Margaret were extremely close as kids, too, and stayed that way through adulthood:

“They didn’t go to regular schools, they were each other’s best friend…Elizabeth was quite happy for Margaret to be the centre of attention because she said, ‘If Margaret’s there, she makes everybody laugh.’ And so it took the pressure off Elizabeth who perhaps was more introverted compared to her mischievous sister.”

The documentary also noted that their father, King George VI, once said of his beloved daughters, “Elizabeth is my pride, but Margaret is my joy.” Which is very sweet.

While the glimpse into their childhood is fascinating, it is hard to imagine the Queen hauling off and decking someone—now or ever. Nice to know she has it in her, though.

If you’re a fan of The Crown, you’ve probably had one question on your mind for a while: Who will play Meghan Markle in future seasons? While we don’t have an exact answer just yet, actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw recently revealed that she would be “flattered” to take on the role.

In her cover interview with Tatler, Mbatha-Raw sounded genuinely surprised that viewers are rooting for her to play the Duchess of Sussex. "Oh my God, that's hilarious," she said. She then added, “I’d be very flattered; I’d have to consider it.”

The British actress, known for her turns in Doctor Who, The Morning Show, and Loki, is no stranger to the world of royalty. In 2018, she was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), an order of chivalry that rewards contributions to the arts and sciences. The award was given during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, where she got to meet Prince Charles.

Mbatha-Raw was shocked that the Prince of Wales recognized her from Doctor Who, and even mentioned that he had visited the set in the past. "I thought, 'Oh my God, is Prince Charles a Whovian?'" she told Tatler.

The actress also noted how charmed Americans seem to be by the Royal Family: “It sort of feels like a fairytale from an American viewpoint.” She also said that while she has yet to meet Prince Harry and Meghan in person, she feels sympathetic towards them and wishes them the best of luck in their transition.

While we wait to see if this casting dream becomes a reality, we’re already super excited for Season 5 of The Crown, scheduled to air on Netflix sometime in late 2022. The cast will be as star-studded as ever, featuring Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Jonny Lee Miller as John Major, and Leslie Manville as Princess Margaret. 

Series creator Peter Morgan has already revealed that he plans to end the show after Season 6—and that he has no plans to feature Harry and Meghan’s royal exit as a storyline. But seeing as he previously claimed that the show would end after Season 5, we’re not giving up hope just yet.

• Royal experts can point to many ways in which Prince Harry has taken after his great-aunt, Princess Margaret.
• Both Harry and Margaret were the "spare" in their families, both went through well-documented rebellious phases, and both fell in love with people who didn't fit the mold for people marrying into the royal family, Harry with Meghan Markle, a divorcee and the first person of color in the modern monarchy, and Margaret with Peter Townsend, who was divorced.
• According to royal biographer Andrew Morton, "Margaret put duty before herself. The wheel turns, 70 years later, and we have another couple having to make a decision: Do they put duty first or their own ambitions and desires first? And they put their own ambitions and desires first. That is the change we have witnessed during the Queen's reign."

Prince Harry has a lot in common with his great-aunt, Princess Margaret. Both royals were considered the "spare"—that is, the second-born child in their families (after the first-born, known as the "heir") and far enough back in the line of succession to be unlikely to ever take the throne themselves. This can be a tough situation, since the "spare" is often expected to take on a lot of the responsibilities that come with being royal even though they probably won't become the monarch.

In addition to being the "spares" in their families, Margaret and Harry were also both known for their rebellious streaks in their youth and both fell in love with people who didn't fit the mold of a royal love interest, Harry with Meghan Markle, and Margaret with Peter Townsend, whose previous marriage and divorce made him a very unorthodox royal suitor at the time.

In a new interview with People to promote his new book Elizabeth & Margaret: the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, royal biographer Andrew Morton discussed how Harry, who stepped back from royal duties with his Meghan last year, and Margaret, who ultimately called off her engagement to Townsend when faced with a choice between love and royal duty, came to very different decisions when it came to love.

"Margaret put duty before herself," Morton said. "The wheel turns, 70 years later, and we have another couple having to make a decision: Do they put duty first or their own ambitions and desires first? And they put their own ambitions and desires first. That is the change we have witnessed during the Queen's reign."

Morton also pointed out that Prince William and Queen Elizabeth, Harry and Margaret's respective older siblings, have a lot in common as well.

"In both cases you have one sibling who pushes boundaries, while the other is more serious, more cautious," Morton added. "At one point, William and Harry were both part of the main branch of monarchy. Then William marries and has children, and his children take precedence. Whereas Harry is an ancillary branch in exactly the same way as Margaret."

• No matter how long Prince Harry is away from the royal family, the Queen will always be willing to welcome him back, a royal expert says.
• Royal biographer Andrew Morton says the Queen sees a lot of her younger sister, Princess Margaret, in Harry and "doesn't want history to repeat itself" by shutting him out.
• "The Queen also knew Margaret sometimes felt like an outsider and I think that’s why she has made sure the door is always open for Harry to return to the royal fold," Morton explained. "She will have a lot of empathy and sympathy for him because she grew up watching her younger sister act the role of the spare, which is not easy."

The Queen is never going to give up on Prince Harry or close the door to him returning to the royal family, one expert says. Why? Because growing up with her younger sister, Princess Margaret, gave the Queen a lot of empathy for Harry, according to royal biographer Andrew Morton.

Speaking to Vanity Fair while promoting his latest royal biography, Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, Morton explained how Margaret's experiences in the royal family shaped Queen Elizabeth's approach to handling Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal exit.

"I think the Queen knows that being the spare is hard and a part of her recognizes that Harry was a sometimes a bit of a lost soul just like her sister," Morton said. "She has always wanted to protect Harry and I think in part that’s because she watched Margaret fall victim to the system. Shutting out Margaret didn’t help and the Queen has learned from that. She didn’t want history to repeat itself with Harry."

Morton says there are a lot of parallels between Harry and Margaret, who was known as a "royal rebel."

"When you compare personalities, Harry is like Margaret, a royal rebel," Morton explained. "Margaret once said ‘disobedience is my joy’ and you see some of that in Harry. The Queen also knew Margaret sometimes felt like an outsider and I think that’s why she has made sure the door is always open for Harry to return to the royal fold. She will have a lot of empathy and sympathy for him because she grew up watching her younger sister act the role of the spare, which is not easy."

Whether it's because of his similarities to her sister or not, the Queen and Harry have always had a special bond, and that clearly hasn't changed since the royal exit.

"She has a lot of affection for Harry. She was there the day Harry lost his mother and has been there for him ever since," Morton said. "She has deliberately taken him under her wing. I think as a grandmother she has been far more understanding than as a mother at times."

• Prince Charles caused quite a stir at the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953.
• Lady Anne Glenconner, one of the Queen's attendants for the occasion, recalled the then 4-year-old Charles' interest in the Queen's crown.
• Charles "got his paws on" the crown, she recalled. "And we thought he was going to drop it."

Kids will be kids, heirs to the English throne or no, and often that means gravitating to the most expensive thing in the room, seizing it with their tiny toddler hands, and allowing it to shatter into oblivion about 0.02 seconds later. Which almost happened to Queen Elizabeth's crown on the the day of her coronation on June 2, 1953, courtesy of a then 4-year-old Prince Charles.

Lady Anne Glenconner, an attendant to the Queen for the occasion, reflected on the chaos during an appearance on podcast My Life in Seven Charms with jeweler Annoushka Ducas. Charles "got his paws on" the Imperial State Crown, which happens to feature almost 3,000 diamonds alongside rubies, pearls, sapphires, and emeralds, Lady Glenconner said.

"[The Queen] took it off, put it on a table and Prince Charles made a beeline for it," the former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret recalled, as People reports. "And we thought he was going to drop it. We thought, 'Oh my goodness, that would be a bad omen.' But luckily, I think my mother, as a lady-in-waiting, seized it from him and took it away."

Prince Charles had plenty of opportunity to take a shine to the giant crown, as the then-future Queen Elizabeth practiced wearing it before the big day, Lady Glenconner shared. "She used to wear it when she was writing letters," she said. "I think Prince Charles says he remembers going in and seeing her wearing it. And asked her why she’s wearing it. And she said she was practicing." Which is sensible, considering it weighs about 3lbs!

• According to royal experts, Queen Elizabeth is very sensitive to what Prince Harry has been going through and what led to his royal exit.
• Royal historian Robert Lacey says Harry's situation likely reminds Elizabeth of the struggles her younger sister, Princess Margaret, faced as a "royal spare."
• Another expert, royal biographer Ingrid Seward, says the Queen made sure to leave the door open for Harry to return to working royal life if he wants to in the future.

Queen Elizabeth is very sensitive to what Prince Harry is going through with his controversial royal exit.

According to royal historian Robert Lacey, even though Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle's decision to step back from royal duties feels shocking to most of us, for the Queen, it probably feels a bit like history repeating itself.

"She has a particular sensitivity to what Harry has been going through because of her closeness to Margaret and seeing the same dramas and tensions played out two generations ago," Lacey told People. "The younger-sibling syndrome is an enduring problem. The system has not found a way of giving them the recognition that they need."

As anyone who has studied modern royal history (or seen Netflix's The Crown) knows, Elizabeth's younger sister, Princess Margaret, had her own share of struggles when it came to navigating life as a royal "spare." 

"The Queen will be very disappointed," Lacey said of how Harry and Meghan's royal exit is likely impacting the Queen. "Her job is to survive."

Of course, it isn't just that Elizabeth needs to survive personally—when royal experts like Lacey speak of the long-reigning monarch's emphasis on survival, what they're talking about is her dedication to making sure the monarchy itself survives.

According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the Queen won't be hung up on the exit—but she has taken very specific steps to make sure Harry and Meghan have the option of returning to the royal family's inner circle, if they want to. 

"[The Queen] won’t dwell on the exit," she told People. "She is very pragmatic. She has left the door open for Harry especially—the year of review was with Harry in mind."

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Christmas is a time to spread joy and cheer, and that extends to the royal family across the pond. For the past 70 years, it's been of royal tradition to release Christmas cards to the public, offering a behind-the-scenes peek into royal life. From the early, formal cards of King George V to the new, more modern snapshots featuring Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and even Prince Louis (!), we're warmed by the royal cheer. Here's a few of our favorite royal Christmas cards throughout the years.

1. 1914

Queen Elizabeth II's grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, sent this holiday card to the troops fighting in World War I.

2. 1939

A 9-year-old Princess Margaret and a 13-year-old then-Princess Elizabeth pose for the holiday portrait, a practice started by the Queen’s parents, George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

3. 1942

Just like her grandparents, Queen Elizabeth sent Christmas portraits to the Grenadier Guards regiment of the British Army, who were fighting in World War II.

4. 1969 & 1979

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh posed for family portraits with the whole family ten years apart, featuring Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.

5. 1987

Amidst rumors of marital strife, Charles, Diana, and the boys still sat down for their annual Christmas portrait.

6. 1988

The royal love for horses is well-known and well-documented, so it should come as no surprise that this year, they posed for the family portrait in the stables.

7. 1991 & 1997

What a difference six years makes! The top photo is one of the last family portraits Diana ever posed for, and the bottom was taken just days before Diana's death.

8. 2014

A candid moment! The 2014 holiday card from Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla features the couple laughing during the Invictus Games Opening Ceremony.

9. 2015

Taken in Scotland during royal holiday, this portrait of Charles and Camilla is too sweet for words.

10. 2016

This year's card shows Prince Charles and Camilla during their royal tour of Croatia, where they met local performers wearing traditional outfits in Tvrda, the old town of the city of Osijek.

11. 2017

By comparison, this year's portrait is a little subdued and certainly more formal. But it's still adorable, we love a Prince Charles and Camilla moment.

12. 2017

The first royal holiday portrait of Prince William, Kate, Prince George and Princess Charlotte is a precious one. Look at how they all coordinate! This is only the beginning of a future of Cambridge family portraits.

13. 2018

This outdoorsy Christmas card was the first since Prince Louis' birth. It was also their first formal photograph as a family of five.

14. 2019

This gorgeous sneak peek from the Cambridges' Christmas card came courtesy of Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty, who shared it to Twitter. Look at how much they've all grown!

15. 2019

Charles and Camilla chose to release their card ahead of the Cambridges and Sussexes—potentially due to his status as heir to the throne. The photo shows them in one of their gorgeous classic cars, which they drove in their historic trip to Cuba in March 2019. Casual, just like most of their Christmas cards!

• Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret in Season 3 of The Crown, has offered her best advice to Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.
  
• During her appearance on Watch What Happens Live, the actress shared her personal suggestions for dealing with negative press and media scrutiny.
  
• Prince Harry has previously spoken out about the troubling coverage that he and his wife have faced in the press since their relationship first began.

Helena Bonham Carter, currently starring as Princess Margaret in Season 3 of The Crown, is the cool aunt that we all deserve. An excellent dark lipstick collection, plus inside Harry Potter movie knowledge, and some seriously great advice, which the actress has been offering out to the Duchess of Sussex.

Appearing on Watch What Happens Live earlier this week, Bonham Carter shared a few words of wisdom on the topic of dealing with negative press, which may prove comforting to Meghan Markle. The 53-year-old actress, who has spent over 20 years in the public eye, said that she wished the royal “wouldn’t have to” pay attention to the difficult and often upsetting press around her and her husband, Prince Harry.

“All I’d say to her is, as soon as you become well known and in the public domain, you have to kind of accept that, possibly, you’re all that people think of you and write about you,” Bonham Carter shared.

“And whatever, that’s the problem about them and it’s not really about her,” she added.

Putting out maybe the coolest advice of all time, the actress said: “Why let the stranger - that was the most important or useful thing that somebody told me - [why put] your self esteem in the hands of strangers?”

Excuse me while I write this quote on everything I own.

It’s been a rough ride for the Duchess of Sussex, almost from the moment her relationship with Prince Harry was first announced. Having struggled with media scrutiny and negative press since the beginning, Meghan is now suing the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday for publishing sections of a private letter she wrote to her father.

Meanwhile, following a stern statement in 2016, Prince Harry recently issued a heartfelt and emotional letter on the matter. He connected the treatment of Meghan in the press to that of his late mother Princess Diana, and wrote: "I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been.”

Harry shared: ”My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

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In 1976, all hell broke loose in the tabloid press when Princess Margaret was photographed in Mustique with her boyfriend, Roddy Llewellyn, while still married to Lord Snowdon, also known as Antony Armstrong-Jones. More than four decades later, photos from the set of season three of Netflix's The Crown showed Helena Bonham Carter (who plays Princess Margaret) holidaying with a handsome younger man, played by Harry Treadaway, and the scandal ended up playing a significant role in the season.

A little backstory: What we know now, but did not at the time, is that Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon's marriage had been on the rocks for some time. Theirs was a turbulent relationship, and after he divorced Margaret, Snowdon went on to marry the woman he'd had an affair with, Lucy Lindsay-Hogg (they divorced 22 years later, in 2000). As for Llewellyn, the only person in the love triangle still alive today, he and Margaret dated for eight years, and remained friends after an amicable breakup.

It's thought that Margaret gave her blessing when Llewellyn married, and remained close to both Llewellyn and his new wife.

Even the Queen has reportedly weighed in on how much healthier Princess Margaret's relationship with Llewellyn was, in contrast to her explosive relationship with Lord Snowdon, noting at Margaret's funeral how happy Llewellyn made her.

But back to those photos. Taken in Mustique in 1976 roughly three years after the pair first met, they're candid by today's standards, but were enough to spark a royal frenzy (pun intended) and lead to Lord Snowdon separating from, and then divorcing Margaret, (which, by all accounts, the princess was absolutely fine with).

Here's Llewellyn en route to the airport to Mustique in 1976:

Llewellyn in the waters of Mustique:

Margaret in the waters of Mustique:

Llewellyn in a skintight Union Jack print swimsuit:

There are a couple of other photos from Mustique floating about—one here shows Margaret speaking with Llewellyn under a parasol—but nothing that could be considered capital S-scandalous. Nonetheless, the release of the photographs forced Margaret and Llewellyn into a tough spot, with Llewellyn offering a mortified statement to the press that did not comment specifically on the photos but claimed that he was, in fact, just gardening in Mustique. (He was, and remains, a gardening expert.)

"I am not prepared to comment on any of the events of last week. I much regret any embarrassment caused to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family, for whom I wish to express the greatest respect, admiration and loyalty," it read. "I thank my own family for their confidence and support, and I am very grateful for the help of my friends at the farm who, with myself, share a common interest in restoring a house to its original order and beauty, and in farming land which it is hoped will provide food for our Parsenn Sally restaurant in Bath. Could we please be permitted by the media, who have besieged us, to carry on with our work and private lives without further interference."

Spoilers for season three. Season three of The Crown does, indeed, pay close attention to the relationship between Llewellyn and Margaret, and in particular the fallout from the photos of the two of them hitting the press. There's a real "before" and "after" sense to the storyline: Llewellyn and Margaret meet at a pool party and hit it off immediately, sparking a love affair that leaves Margaret remarking, absent-mindedly, that this is the first time in her life that she's ever really been happy. Their romance is tender and their holidaying idyllic—and then a photographer sneaks up on the two and snaps a few photos, and it's all downhill from there.

Trigger warning: The following paragraph continues an allusion to suicide. Notably, the photographs that were in the newspapers (above) are actually very tame compared to the "photos" the photographer is shown to take, which reveal Llewellyn and Margaret's easy intimacy while relaxing on the beach. (There's also a callback to that Union Jack swimsuit, you'll be glad to hear—Margaret drags Llewellyn to a store and cajoles him into trying it on.) But Margaret is a married royal, and in both the show and real life, the fallout is tremendous. In the show, the photos trigger a depressive spell, and Margaret tries to kill herself. And while the latter is, sadly, based in truth, Margaret's secretary has gone on the record to say that the photos also caused Lord Snowdon to file for divorce, which pleased Margaret. I quote: "Thank you, Nigel. I think that's the best news you've ever given me."

Correction: A previous version of this story included a quote believed to be written by Roddy Llewellyn. As The Guardian reported, that information was actually a compilation of newspaper clippings.

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Spoilers for The Crown ahead. One of the most salacious historical events covered in season 3 of The Crown is the dissolution of the marriage between Lord Tony Snowdon and Princess Margaret. One of the key parts of their breakup was Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, who had been dating Snowdon for years before he got divorced, and married him shortly thereafter.

Not much is known about this shy and quiet woman who was born in Ireland and who also had an ex-husband by the time she met Snowdon, but because of her connection with Snowdon and the events that led to their marriage, she's an important historical figure. What do we know about her? 

She had been married before.

Lucy was an associate producer on several films. In fact, between 1967 and 1971, Lucy had been married to, and then got divorced from, well-known British director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (he worked with The Beatles and Rolling Stones). He later went on to date Mary Tyler Moore.

Lucy's film background was what eventually allowed her and Snowdon to meet: in 1972, at a party, allegedly, wherein Snowdon was apparently looking for an assistant and gave her the job. They started seeing each other romantically not long after.

She and Snowdon dated before Snowdon's divorce.

Margaret apparently knew about the relationship and was extremely unhappy about it. But ironically it was pictures of Margaret with her young lover, Roddy Llewellyn, that ended up torpedoing the marriage.

Very quickly after Snowdon's divorce in 1978, he and Lucy officially got married—to the excitement of the crowd gathered outside.

And she and Snowdon also got divorced.

Lindsay and Snowdon had one child, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones, who now works as an editor-in-chief and is very occasionally seen at public events.

Unfortunately, the couple got divorced in 2000; Snowdon had fathered a child out of wedlock with Melanie Cable-Alexander (his second; he also had a child with someone who wasn't Margaret while the two were still dating). Oh, and he also allegedly had a many years-long affair with another journalist, Anne Hill. Oops. But, unlike he and Margaret, Snowdon and Lucy remained friendly with each other even after they parted. He died in 2017.

Spoilers for The Crown season three. In The Crown, Lindsay is played by Jessica De Gouw, an actress from Australia (you'd never have guessed, right?) who starred in Arrow and Dracula. She doesn't get much screen time, but she does appear in a long scene with Ben Daniels (Lord Snowdon) in which her character is depicted as the antithesis of Margaret—young and playful, a woman with a gentle demeanor who doesn't demand too much of Snowdon. Her counterpart as the "other" in the Snowdon/Margaret marriage is Roddy Llewellyn, played by Harry Treadaway, who gets a little more character development than Lindsay and, in a similar vein, is depicted as the polar opposite of Lord Snowdon (and Margaret, for that matter).

Snowdon and Lindsay's romance, as with real life, is depicted as more of a full-blown relationship than a passing fling. The two comfortably take up residence in Snowdon's country home in Wales, with Snowdon mentioning that Margaret would never stop by because she "hates" the place. (That's not exactly true—she was apparently there often enough to have been given a nickname by the locals.) Although it's an affair, the relationship is portrayed as significantly less complicated than the one between Snowdon and Margaret, which is passionate and intense and, ultimately, doomed.

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Season three of Netflix's The Crown will feature Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon's 1965 U.S. tour in at least one episode, per The Hollywood Reporter and other outlets. The Crown casts Princess Margaret (played by Helena Bonham Carter) and husband Lord Snowdon's tour in a rosy glow, but the real-life tour was marred by bad press, "diva"-esque behavior, and, believe it or not, a reported temporary ban for Margaret from the United States. Let's dig in, shall we?

Margaret offended several American stars.

During the tour, Princess Margaret met a handful of high-profile American celebrities, and that...did not go well. Explained biographer Craig Brown in a piece for The Guardian: "After a succession of drinks...Her rudeness knew no bounds. It was almost as though, early in life, she had contracted a peculiarly royal strain of Tourette syndrome, causing the sufferer to be seized by the unstoppable urge to say the first thing that came into her head, just so long as it was sufficiently unpleasant."

Some tidbits, per Grazia:

• Margaret said Elizabeth Taylor's engagement ring was "vulgar."
• Margaret told Grace Kelly she "didn't look like a movie star."
• Margaret upset Judy Garland by asking her to perform on the spot, which Garland wasn't comfortable doing.

Her meeting with Lyndon B. Johnson was...fine.

Though The Crown may suggest otherwise, Princess Margaret and husband Lord Snowdon's evening with President Lyndon B. Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird seems pretty unremarkable. The two danced and dined together at the White House, and Princess Margaret gave a nice toast about how welcomed she and her husband felt in the U.S., but that was...about it.

By comparison, the often poor press and hurt feelings Princess Margaret left in her trail on her U.S. tour was pretty remarkable, given that she was there representing the British Royal Family. It actually seems as though the White House evening was among the less publicized of her U.S. engagements.

The U.S. tour was outrageously expensive.

Foremost among the controversies of Princess Margaret's U.S. tour? The expense, which was £30,000 at the time; today, that translates to about half a million dollars. A transcript of a hearing in the British Parliament about the expense of the tour features MP William Hamilton asking the President of the Board of Trade Douglas Jay: "Can he say what return we are going to get from [Margaret's tour], and will he say whether the Labour Government are going to stop conniving at this kind of extravagant nonsense by this very expensive young lady?"

This controversy, however, largely took place in U.K. papers ("Who pays?" read one headline) among those who were concerned about taxpayers picking up the expense for Margaret's trip.

Margaret was reportedly banned from going back, at least for a while.

This is perhaps the most juicy of the details of Margaret's U.S. tour: According to a 2003 report in The Telegraph, Margaret was reportedly banned from making a return trip to the States in the '70s, thanks to the "raucous" behavior of her entourage during the '65 trip. Lees Mayall, Vice-Marshal of the Diplomat Service, wrote in a memo: "You will remember that Lord Cromer is not at all keen on having the Princess in the United States, possibly for some time to come. This is mainly due to the behaviour of some of HRH's friends, who tend to take such visits very lightly."

If you've watched The Crown, you'll know that such a proclamation is Brit-speak for "appalling behavior."

Commenting on the report in 2003, Lord Snowdon, who had been married to Margaret at the time and was present for the tour, noted: "I have no idea why there should have been any objection to what went on." (Margaret died in 2002.)

The Crown tells a...different story.

Some episodes of season three, like Charles' investiture and the Aberfan disaster, remain close to the source material. Not this one. In The Crown, Margaret is greeted by adoring crowds Stateside and earns front-page acclaim on every newspaper; meanwhile, back in the U.K., Lyndon B. Johnson is flat-out refusing to engage with the Queen in any way. (There's no evidence that this occurred—although Lyndon Johnson is the sole U.S. president the Queen never met with during his tenure, nobody really knows why.) LBJ turns down an invitation to the Palace, he turns down shooting at Balmoral...and then he hears about Princess Margaret, and decides he wouldn't mind meeting her instead. (Again, not quite true. LBJ had actually met Margaret before.)

The episode also shows Margaret talking LBJ into the bailout that Britain so desperately needs; her charm during their evening together earns the U.K. the bailout from Johnson, which Margaret then uses as ammunition to ask the Queen for royal duties. Unfortunately, the bailout discussions went on for years after Margaret's visit, so that's...not at all accurate. (It is, however, true-ish that Margaret wanted more royal duties.) And while photos of the evening show that everybody looks perfectly happy to be in one another's company, there's no evidence of the dirty joke-telling and raucous antics described in the episode.

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This year marks Prince Charles' 50th anniversary (!) as the Prince of Wales. His duties officially began after he participated in a ceremony called an investiture of the Prince of Wales, similar to the Queen's coronation, in 1969 at the Caernarfon Castle. Season three of The Crown will feature the ceremony Charles referred to as "very impressive," according to Town & Country. His mother, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, and Princess Margaret were all in attendance.

During the investiture, Prince Charles gave a speech in Welsh and English, beginning in Welsh and then switching to English. He reportedly studied Welsh at—you guessed it—the College of Wales to prepare for it.

Following the investiture, Charles noted: "For me, by far the most moving and meaningful moment came when I put my hands between Mummy’s and swore to be her liege man of life and limb and to live and die against all manner of folks—such magnificent medieval, appropriate words, even if they were never adhered to in those old days."

Spoilers for season 3. The Crown's depiction of Charles' time in Wales and the investiture is mostly true, although we can assume that the specific interactions are not. In the episode, Charles, who is happy and thriving at Cambridge University, is reluctant to spend a term in Wales—and when he gets there, finds many people there even more unfriendly than he had dreaded. But Charles noted later that his time in Wales had been transformative (he studied under Welsh nationalist Edward Millward, which even Millward described as a "surprising" choice, and the two developed a mutual respect for one another, which is shown in the episode), and Charles has remained attached to the country, making repeated visits and even buying land there in his later years.

You can listen to Charles' full speech here and watch season three of The Crown premiering on Netflix on November 17.

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If you haven't heard about the infamous Royal Family documentary of 1969, the filming of which is featured in an episode of The Crown season 3, it's for a reason. The royal family has done everything they can to contain the 110-minute documentary showcasing a day in the life of the immediate royal family members, which aired on BBC (and later ITV) in June 1969 and attracted 30 million viewers.

The documentary aimed to present a more relatable, approachable side of the family to the public. Turns out, it got a bit too personal, causing controversy throughout the U.K. According to The Telegraph, critics claimed that the film "destroyed the mystique of the royals by showing them to be ordinary people, including scenes of the Duke of Edinburgh frying sausages at a Balmoral barbecue." (I don't know about you, but I'm very into watching Prince Philip hit up the BBQ.) There's even a candid conversation shown between the Queen and then-U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Here are some clips from the doc:

After Buckingham Palace decided to withdraw the video at the end of 1969, the full version hasn't been shown to the public since. "Legend has it that the Queen doesn't want parts of it to be shown," Paul Moorhouse, exhibition curator at National Portrait Gallery told The Telegraph in 2011. "There is a reluctance for this to be revisited...I wish we could show it in its entirety. It tells you a lot about family life. And it redefined the nation's view of the Queen. The audience was amazed to be able to hear the Queen speaking spontaneously, and to see her in a domestic setting."

The good news? Some clips are still available on the World Wide Web. And even though it's not the full documentary, it's still pretty fascinating to watch:

Liz, if you're reading this, please consider reviving the full video.

Spoilers for season 3. In The Crown, the documentary is depicted as causing an avalanche of bad press for the royal family. It's a moment of pure vulnerability, in which the royals realize that the people they serve may not, in fact, like them very much as they are—an ironic point, considering that The Crown itself could be considered a redeeming force for the British monarchy, making the family more human than we've ever seen them.

The documentary is a plot point in what turns into one of the best episodes of the season, if not in the entire series: "Bubbikins," which sees the return of Princess Alice, Philip's mother, a woman whose instability caused him a difficult childhood (though she clearly adores him, hence the nickname "Bubbikins"). Just as The Crown and the young royals have served to make the royal family feel more human to the public it serves, Princess Alice and the journalist she speaks to, John Armstrong (who, FYI, does not exist), bring a sense of humility to the royal family at a time when they need it.

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This past spring, leaked photos from filming of The Crown season three revealed Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret in the recast third season, filming alongside Harry Treadaway. Judging by the interactions on show in the photos, it's thought that Treadaway plays the real-life (and still very much alive) Roddy Llewellyn, who embarked on an eight-year affair with Princess Margaret in the early '70s.

Roddy was 25 when he met Princess Margaret in 1973, and the romantic relationship lasted eight years. At the time they met, Margaret was married to Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon; during this period, Armstrong-Jones is thought to have been unfaithful to her as well. Partially due to her marriage, and partially due to Margaret being almost 20 years Roddy's senior—she was 43 when they met—their relationship incited a tabloid scandal that rocked the royal family, and led to the first royal separation, and then divorce, since Henry VIII.

Today, Roddy, short for Roderick, is 72. (Margaret passed away in 2002.) After his relationship with the princess ended, he married Tatiana Soskin, with whom he had three children. He's a keen gardener, an actual baron, and has dabbled in television presenting.

The Queen reportedly liked Llewellyn.

In spite of the shame that Margaret's affair brought on the royal family—the scandal hit the newspapers in 1976 when a photographer captured the couple being touchy-feely on vacation—it's thought that the Queen actually quite liked Llewellyn. In a documentary that aired last year, the woman who introduced Llewellyn and Margaret said she'd been approached by the Queen at Margaret's funeral. Per Vanity Fair:

“After Princess Margaret’s funeral, the Queen, she said, ‘I’d just like to say, Anne, it was rather difficult at moments, but I thank you so much [for] introducing Princess Margaret to Roddy ’cause he made her really happy.’”

Margaret's marriage was already breaking down.

Though the divorce between Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon wasn't finalized until 1978—I mean, who wants to be the first person since Henry VIII to do something?—it's well-established that Margaret's relationship with Llewellyn was far from the sole reason the marriage ended. Lord Snowdon, who is thought to have acted cruelly to his then-wife, had already had affairs, including with Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, the woman he married in 1978 and divorced in 2000.

Nevertheless, the photographs of Margaret and Llewellyn spurred Lord Snowdon to begin the steps of formally ending his marriage.

Llewellyn and Margaret were together for eight years.

The couple went on to date for eight years, so it was clearly no passing fling. One slightly awkward side note: In 1978, Llewellyn tried to kick-start a career in pop music, apparently aiming to capitalize on his fame as Princess Margaret's boyfriend. This did not work out. (You can listen to some of his music here, if you so choose.)

Llewellyn, who became a baron much later after the death of his father, spent much of the rest of his life pursuing his true love: gardening. He wrote extensively about gardening (I did not know "gardening correspondent" was a job, but there we have it), went on TV to talk about gardening, and, well, did a lot of gardening. In short, the man really, really loves gardening, and is considered an expert in the field.

My favorite quote on the relationship came from Dame Anne Leslie, who knew the pair, and remarked in a documentary later: "He was a nice, dim gardener, but he came from quite a good family. Anyway, she was having it off with him.”

Llewellyn and Margaret remained on good terms after their split.

It was the "conscious uncoupling" of 1981, if you will. Though their relationship was significant on both sides, their breakup seemed amicable—Margaret remained good friends not just with Llewellyn but with Llewellyn's new wife, Soskin, and Tatler reports that Margaret gave the couple her blessing. Here they are in 1998 (Llewellyn is in the back behind Margaret):

Certainly, the split was far more amicable than Margaret's from Lord Snowdon; when told by her secretary that her husband was divorcing her following the "compromising" photos, Margaret is said to have replied: "Thank you, Nigel. I think that's the best news you've ever given me."

Season three of The Crown doesn't hold back in its depiction of Margaret and Lord Snowdon's volatile relationship, and Roddy is presented as the polar opposite of Margaret's husband. The character is young and sprightly, sure, but he's also sweet and playful, whereas Lord Snowdon is intense and often derogatory to his wife. There's even a nod to the iconic Union Jack Speedo-type swimsuit shown in the above photo: Margaret drags an easygoing Roddy to a local store, where Roddy tries on the swimsuit at her behest.

Later, Roddy and Lord Snowdon meet face-to-face, a tense occasion that Roddy lasts about five minutes in before he makes his escape. Even though Snowdon has had affairs himself, he is condescending and aggressive to both Roddy and Margaret; Roddy, by comparison, is gentle and loving, and knows immediately he can't handle the kind of volatility that characterizes Snowdon and Margaret's relationship.

Of course, there's only so much we know about Llewellyn and Snowdon's personalities at the time, but it's well-established that Margaret and Snowdon had a fraught relationship marked by intense ups and destructive downs, whereas Llewellyn and Margaret went on to have a long relationship that, in time, evolved into a loving and long-lasting friendship. So it's fair to say that, whatever the men's personalities, Llewellyn was more suited to Princess Margaret than her then-husband was.

Correction: A previous version of this story included a quote believed to be written by Roddy Llewellyn. As The Guardian reported, that information was actually a compilation of newspaper clippings.

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Spoilers for The Crown season 3. Sometimes it seems like royal fervor is more enthusiastic (and critical) now more than ever. Fans of Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton rush to buy the clothing they wear—also known as The Duchess Effect—and love to read about any and all gossip associated with the two young royals. But it turns out that's not exactly a new thing: Even without the benefit of the Internet, Princess Margaret was much beloved by the public and media throughout her entire life, and she inspired rabid devotion by her fans.

Season three of The Crown dives into Margaret's popularity later in life, even referencing the term "Margaretologists" for devoted American fans that came to see the princess in droves during her trip to the United States. But is that true? Did American fans term themselves Margaretologists after she won their hearts?

In the show, Margaret's trip to the U.S. is a roaring success.

In an episode called "Margaretology," The Crown indicates that Princess Margaret fans who have "delighted" in Margaret's charm and poise (especially in contrast to her stuffy old sister) begin referring to themselves "Margaretologists." Elizabeth, back home in England, is glad to hear that there have been no disasters regarding her reckless and daring younger sister, but is irritated anew at how loved she is. Margaret did in fact take a trip to the U.S. in 1965, but apparently the trip met with mixed reviews, she ended up insulting a number of people, and she was "banned" from coming to the U.S. in the 1970s. Soooo there was some creative license in the show, is what I'm saying.

In real life, Margaretologists were fans even earlier.

So, according to a source, that was indeed the name for Princess Margaret fans. In the Economist obituary, though, it indicates that the nickname was used before Margaret went to the United States or even before she was married to Snowdon. In fact, the word was in use while she was courting her first love Peter Townsend. "Margaretologists noted that Townsend looked a bit like Gregory Peck, who had starred with Audrey Hepburn."

And it doesn't specify whether the coin was specific to her American fans, or fans in general; although Margaret by that point may have been more well-known in Britain, so it stands to reason that might have been her fans' nickname in her home country and all over the world. But it makes sense—she was charming and beautiful, and fans loved her just as much as (sometimes more than) her sister Elizabeth.

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