The Crown has opened our eyes to all sorts of royal storylines we either didn’t know or had forgotten all about. Like the time the royal family filmed their own reality TV show or the fling Princess Anne had with Camilla Parker-Bowles’ husband before they were married.
In particular, there’s one character we’ve gotten to know better, Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister Princess Margaret, and to be honest, now we want to know even more.
If you’re intrigued by Princess Margaret’s story, here are some books about her life that are worth a read.
Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled by Tim Heald
Prince Philip’s official biographer, Tim Heald, wrote this biography about the princess, using his insider access to speak exclusively with those who knew Margaret best, including her family (Lord Snowdon and her son, Lord Linley), three of her private secretaries and many of her ladies in waiting. He also had the Queen’s permission to use the royal archives. If you want juicy details about her party-girl antics, this is the book for you.
99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown
It’s not all fact in this book, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an intriguing and insightful read. Author and journalist Craig Brown takes 99 moments—most real, some imagined—from the life of Princess Margaret, and combines interviews, parodies, dreams, parallel lives, diaries, announcements, lists, catalogues and essays into an entertaining story about the rebel princess who was considered witty and regal by her friends, and rude and demanding by her enemies.
Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts by Christopher Warwick
Written by Princess Margaret’s authorised biographer with the cooperation of Margaret, this biography provides the full, insider story of her many love affairs, as well as all the good work she did, from her charitable royal duties to helping bring the monarchy into the modern age. If you want to know more about Margaret the person, pick up this book.
A Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner
Written by one of Princess Margaret’s ladies in waiting (and friends), Anne Glenconner, this is a story told by someone who knew Margaret better than most. With first-hand accounts of Margaret’s life, Anne wrote this book because she wanted to set the record straight. “I wrote the book partly because I was so upset by all the things people wrote about her and they didn’t even know her!” she told The Sydney Morning Herald. The book sheds a lot of insights into how horribly Margaret’s husband Lord Snowden treated her, as well as what Margaret was like as a child (Anne and Margaret knew each other since childhood). This book doesn’t come out until December 6, but you’ll want to be among the first to get your hands on it. Anne will appear as a character in The Crown next year.
If it’s Princess Margaret’s fashion you want to know more about, check out our gallery of iconic Princess Margaret looks.
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