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Princess Margaret and the Curse: An Inquiry into a Royal Life
A Groundbreaking New Perspective of Princess Margaret by Renowned Biographer Meryle Secrest
Meryle Secrest, distinguished biographer in the arts and humanities, and recipient of a White House Medal, has turned her focus to royalty. In Princess Margaret and the Curse, she has put the conventional view of a much-reviled Princess on its head. Her latest study, which she considers more of an investigation than a biography as such, proposes that nobody knows the truth about the fabled, doomed Princess.
She is the first person to have looked at Princess Margaret in a particular family context. That is to say with reference to her mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of a famous, hard-drinking Scottish family that had inhabited an ancient dwelling, Glamis Castle, for centuries. Her older brothers were already renowned for their prowess in alcohol consumption. Decades later, once she became Queen Mother, this Elizabeth would begin to imbibe by eleven in the morning. She was already lamenting the loss of her "drinking powers" when, because of severe bouts of morning sickness during her first pregnancy with the future Queen Elizabeth in 1926, she could not drink. Four years later, while pregnant with Princess Margaret in 1930, she was not so handicapped. Doctors believed it was perfectly safe for a mother-to-be to drink, so she drank.
The doctors were wrong. But it took another forty-three years, until 1973, before new studies established that alcohol in any amount was poisonous to the developing human being. The effect is lifelong. We now know that victims’ growth is stunted (Margaret stopped growing at five feet), and their skeletal structures are fragile. They get sick sooner and age faster. There are characteristic emotional differences, too. They never develop maturity of mind. They remain subject to sudden tantrums, rages, are poor judges of character, and particularly prone to run and hide, as Princess Margaret tried to do all her life. They may be as intelligent and gifted as she was, but mulish and fly into a rage. They are, it turns out, exactly like the person she became.
None of this has ever been recognized, let alone understood. With this study, the author places Margaret's life in its proper perspective. It seems particularly sad that someone expected to be perfection itself in her manners and behavior should have been born in the one situation where perfection was, in fact, impossible. It is time we looked at this public figure from a new and more forgiving frame of mind, and with a new understanding.
Meryle Secrest, distinguished biographer in the arts and humanities, and recipient of a White House Medal, has turned her focus to royalty. In Princess Margaret and the Curse, she has put the conventional view of a much-reviled Princess on its head. Her latest study, which she considers more of an investigation than a biography as such, proposes that nobody knows the truth about the fabled, doomed Princess.
She is the first person to have looked at Princess Margaret in a particular family context. That is to say with reference to her mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of a famous, hard-drinking Scottish family that had inhabited an ancient dwelling, Glamis Castle, for centuries. Her older brothers were already renowned for their prowess in alcohol consumption. Decades later, once she became Queen Mother, this Elizabeth would begin to imbibe by eleven in the morning. She was already lamenting the loss of her "drinking powers" when, because of severe bouts of morning sickness during her first pregnancy with the future Queen Elizabeth in 1926, she could not drink. Four years later, while pregnant with Princess Margaret in 1930, she was not so handicapped. Doctors believed it was perfectly safe for a mother-to-be to drink, so she drank.
The doctors were wrong. But it took another forty-three years, until 1973, before new studies established that alcohol in any amount was poisonous to the developing human being. The effect is lifelong. We now know that victims’ growth is stunted (Margaret stopped growing at five feet), and their skeletal structures are fragile. They get sick sooner and age faster. There are characteristic emotional differences, too. They never develop maturity of mind. They remain subject to sudden tantrums, rages, are poor judges of character, and particularly prone to run and hide, as Princess Margaret tried to do all her life. They may be as intelligent and gifted as she was, but mulish and fly into a rage. They are, it turns out, exactly like the person she became.
None of this has ever been recognized, let alone understood. With this study, the author places Margaret's life in its proper perspective. It seems particularly sad that someone expected to be perfection itself in her manners and behavior should have been born in the one situation where perfection was, in fact, impossible. It is time we looked at this public figure from a new and more forgiving frame of mind, and with a new understanding.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 9, 2025
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70 people want to read
About the author
Meryle Secrest
28 books33 followersMeryle Secrest was born and educated in Bath, England, and lives in Washington, DC. She is the author of twelve biographies and was awarded the 2006 Presidential National Humanities Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 8, 2025
No. Just, no. I dislike books where the author depends on an academia that doesn’t exist. I dislike — intensely — this book for the opposite reason. There’s too much academia, none of which is relevant to the topic of the book. In that, no research exists.
Seemingly, the author read a book or two on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, then came up with a hare-brained theory that she should have written an article about but chose to make into a book. It’s bad. Soooooo bad.
The language of the Syndrome is wrong: there are NOT “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome kids”! There are children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Children with FAS are absolutely NOT known for their athleticism, but this book says otherwise. I’m sure there are other gross inaccuracies, but I stopped reading after about 100 pages, when the redundancies and fictions did me in.
Oh my gosh, I cannot believe how awful this book is! I wanted to love it so that I could suggest it to everyone I know in order for them to learn more about FAS and FASDs. Instead, I hope no one bothers. This boring, off-topic book will answer zero questions about FAS.
Seemingly, the author read a book or two on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, then came up with a hare-brained theory that she should have written an article about but chose to make into a book. It’s bad. Soooooo bad.
The language of the Syndrome is wrong: there are NOT “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome kids”! There are children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Children with FAS are absolutely NOT known for their athleticism, but this book says otherwise. I’m sure there are other gross inaccuracies, but I stopped reading after about 100 pages, when the redundancies and fictions did me in.
Oh my gosh, I cannot believe how awful this book is! I wanted to love it so that I could suggest it to everyone I know in order for them to learn more about FAS and FASDs. Instead, I hope no one bothers. This boring, off-topic book will answer zero questions about FAS.
October 23, 2025
October 23, 2025 Princess Margaret and the Curse **
This is basically a biography of Princess Margaret with the notion that she suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Her hard-drinking mother apparently “cursed” her with this affliction and it allegedly caused her problems throughout her life. Margaret’s difficulty writing, her tiny stature, and her volatile temper seem to be the blatant “symptoms,” but the diagnosis is certainly not definitive.
As a biography, it was alright, but the writing was not captivating. It didn’t always follow a linear narrative and the author got caught up in different ideas and switched topics haphazardly. Yes, I learned a great deal about Margaret’s troubled life, but it wasn’t presented in a captivating way.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
This is basically a biography of Princess Margaret with the notion that she suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Her hard-drinking mother apparently “cursed” her with this affliction and it allegedly caused her problems throughout her life. Margaret’s difficulty writing, her tiny stature, and her volatile temper seem to be the blatant “symptoms,” but the diagnosis is certainly not definitive.
As a biography, it was alright, but the writing was not captivating. It didn’t always follow a linear narrative and the author got caught up in different ideas and switched topics haphazardly. Yes, I learned a great deal about Margaret’s troubled life, but it wasn’t presented in a captivating way.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
December 23, 2025
Interesting premise, but felt like there is a lot of assumption on the part of the author. The princess was not perfect, but human, and certainly although privileged in some aspects, she was also very limited in the ways she was allowed to govern her own life.
I found the passages based on actual fact most interesting, in particular the relationship Margaret had with her sister.
I found the passages based on actual fact most interesting, in particular the relationship Margaret had with her sister.
December 29, 2025
I enjoyed this one greatly. The author makes the case that Princess Margaret suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews