Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts

by Christopher Warwick

The fascinating biography of one of the most controversial royal figures of the twentieth century and its first Princess Margaret.
 
As a pre-war royal whose world was hugely circumscribed by the strictures of another age, Princess Margaret was admired as well as vilified for most of her adult life. She helped usher the monarchy into the modern world—which sometimes led to conflict and misunderstanding in both her private and public life. Christopher Warwick’s superbly researched biography redresses the balance. It gives the full, insider story of the Princess’s many love affairs, but also looks at her tireless work for charity and willingness to break taboos—it was she, not Diana, who first championed HIV and AIDS awareness. Princess Margaret reminds us that its subject was one of the most remarkable, if complex and contradictory, modern royal personalities.     
Reissue.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Royalty, Biography Memoir, British Literature

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Caity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know what it is about this year so far but I have had read some amazing books, this biography included. Super easy to read, engaging and interesting. Whilst the book focused heavily on the life’s around Princess Margaret I enjoyed the wider lense of information given to the reader. I would highly recommend.

[Helen Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I read this one. Finally, what I feel is a very balanced look at a most remarkable woman who led a rather amazing life despite being sister to the Queen. I've read many books on the royals, but I was pleased to learn new things about this often overlooked woman and some about her family too.

[Zosi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a full length fluff piece-a nice contrast to the previous book I read on the Princess. Obviously this book is older and a bit outdated (from the 80s) but I enjoyed getting more insight into the Princess’s early life in a (fairly) unbiased manner.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching The Crown, I became fascinated by the life of Princess Margaret. I had to know how accurate the show’s portrayal of her heartbreaking affair with Peter Townsend was, and how much she truly sacrificed to be “Princess Margaret.” Although this book was so well researched that it included some extra details, names and dates that did not interest me, I did get the answers to my burning questions. Princess Margaret truly did live a life of contrasts.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watching The Crown got me fascinated with Princess Margaret, so this seemed like the ideal book to read in order to learn more about her.

From reading the book, one thing I learnt was that Margaret really had a life of contrasts. On the one hand she loved being a Princess and never let anyone forget she was royal. She had a great sense of duty in regards to her role, and was incredibly religious. But on the other hand, she rebelled against the system, pushing the boundaries and in many ways, helped to modernise the Monarchy - even if this wasn’t always intentional.

From being the Queen of the London social scene in the 60’s, to travelling abroad to raise money for the various charities she supported, Margaret was certainly a unique character.

It seemed that she had it all, but was never entirely happy within herself. Her life

One story in particular that stands out is when one of her friends sons was diagnosed with AIDS - this was in the 80’s when there was a lot more ignorance to the disease - Margaret was one of the few to not turn her back on them, even going as far as to hug the gentlemen in public much to the shock of witnesses.

As the author says at the end, most Princes and Princess get forgotten, but Margaret is unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book a 3.5. This book was written around 2002 originally. A pretty interesting read although a bit dry in parts. Christopher Warwick was authorized to write this biography. He keeps it fair about the princess who like the title of the book says "a life in contrasts" he shares the good and the difficulties princess Margaret had in her life. Always being in the pubic eye her life was in front of the world. I learned some about the younger daughter and sister royal.

[Anna-Maria Tuominen-Reini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Margaret’s life was a tragedy! Really a controversial lady, most likely born and living in circumstances that did not fit her personality at all. I bought the book in a book store while visiting London. It took me some time to complete it, but it was worth of reading. A bit light in content, though.

[Kelly Macfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps a bit hagiographic, and a bit long on the name-dropping, but an interesting look at one of my favourite royals.

[Jeffrey Thiessen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completed this concise biography of The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon in just less than two weeks. The younger daughter of King George VI and sister of Queen Elizabeth II, Her Royal Highness put public duty before personal desire or ambition (unlike a more recent Royal second born). She was vibrant spirit who enjoyed an active social life but also took her Christian faith seriously (which surprised me). Princess Margaret did not enjoy the longevity of her mother and sister. Like her father, the Princess's life which was cut short by ill health and she died at the age of 71 in 2002.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

PRINCESS MARGARET by Christopher Warwick - I wanted to read this after loving Margaret in The Crown and although she was alive until 2002, I felt I didn't know much about her. I did learn more from reading the book, but it seemed rather dull at times and very info-heavy, so that I had to re-read some sentences twice, to get past all the people's titles! 7 out of 10

[Butterfly2507 · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm sorry but this is written in such a boring and excessive way i almost fell asleep.

[BJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just feels so rushed as it got to the end. The last thirty years of her life was summed up in roughly 100 pages (if that) of a 300 page book. Very disappointing.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching "The Crown" on Netflix, I found myself intrigued by Princess Margaret. This book by Christopher Warwick fit the bill for me. He thoroughly researched her life and also interviewed those individuals in her inner circle for this biography. Princess Margaret had a troubled life. Her early childhood was a relatively normal one until her uncle abdicated and her father became King. From that time on she lived in her older sister's shadow. When Elizabeth became queen at the young age of 25 years old after their father's early death, Margaret had a difficult time. Princess Margaret was always aware of her royal standing but acted out at times, seemingly in defiance of her sister's reign as queen. At the age of 22, Princess Margaret fell in love with a divorced commoner named Peter Townsend. They planned to marry but her sister, the queen, told Margaret she must wait until she was 25 years old to do so. The princess and Mr. Townsend waited but the marriage was still vetoed unless Margaret gave up her royal standing. Princess Margaret and Mr. Townsend decided to break off the relationship. By this time, many of the men from more suitable families had already married. Eventually, Princess Margaret did marry a photographer named Antony Armstrong-Jones. However, this marriage eventually ended in divorce. Princess Margaret was a talented but complicated and somewhat misunderstood woman. If you are at all interested in Queen Elizabeth's younger sister Margaret, I highly recommend this book.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An authorized biography of Princess Margaret updated and reissued this year with the popularity of The Crown on Netflix. Warwick focuses closely on Margaret's family and early life and the first half of the book is the Princess's life to age 18. There is some interesting analysis of the influence of Margaret's Bowes-Lyon grandparents on her cultural interests. Margaret's maternal grandmother, the Countess of Strathmore, was fond of singing and after dinner musical entertainment, traditions cherished by her granddaughter.
Warwick also devotes extensive attention to Margaret's doomed romance with Peter Townsend, and analyzes their relationship and obstacles to their marriage at length. I would have been interested to read more about Margaret's children and her overseas tours. Warwick clearly admires Margaret and sometimes minimizes the more difficult aspects of her personality. Princess Margaret: A Life in Contrasts should be read alongside 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown for a more critical perspective.

[Rho · Rating 2 out of 5]

A weak biography . The book was poorly written, and it feels like she must have been a coauthor or had complete control over the contents. . It is very superficial with only those details that are complementary. The book did a decent job of detailing all her ups and downs but there was no incite or reasoning for some of her erratic behaviors. I really would not recommend this, and wish I had read something else to get an idea of what she was like.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

She was naughty.

[Jane Lord-Hodgkiss]

Enjoyable, Factual book but I felt too much was written about her early childhood and not enough about her later life. Fascinating life to read about however.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This biography was extremely partial. Informative, yes. Defensive of the British monarchy, also, yes. A nice read, but one wonders what the truth really is.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

#7 of 120 books pledged to read during 2019

[Ken Sampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

[12 Sep 2018] This book has been written by her 'authorised biographer' and it seems a personal friend of Princess Margaret. It is well presented and follows a traditional chronological order and is a well written, easy narrative of her life and times. It has a gentle, kind and some might say, an almost sycophantic approach to her. All the usual areas are covered - her war years, her relationship with Group Captain Townsend, her marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, her Caribbean island retreat and her relationship with Roddy Llewellyn and her charity and public work. There are areas of strength - her kindness to her friends, her loyalty to her sister the Queen, her dedication to her work.

However in my opinion, there are also areas of weakness - there is an over-reliance on narrative and description and limited analysis and opinion. The book was, one suspects, written with the aim that Princess Margaret would read it - if she had not died before the end of its composition. However there are areas of her life where there has been a lack of attention. Her children arrived - and are next included when they are married. Her relationship to them and theirs to her are not explored. Her personal relationship to her sister, the Queen or her mother, The Queen Mother, are not really mentioned. Then there are the excuses - descriptions of her irascibility are given as examples of her wilfulness, rather than her rudeness. Another when she develops pneumonia is said to be because of the Autumn chill rather than her refusal to give up her 60-a-day cigarette habit. There are other examples of the complexity of her character that are described, but not studied and where the author moves on quick - one assumes in order not to upset his friend.

So - a easy, well written and useful book that treats the subject with kindness and sensitivity but is highly selective, some might say sycophantic and it has limited analysis where you will probably discover very few new things about Princess Margaret, who was - one guesses - ultimately much more interesting, characterful and complex than comes across here.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a challenging biography to read since Christopher Warwick was the authorized biographer and included many, many details that were not appreciated by this American reader. Historical facts provided information about the context of her life and provided a human context to some of her life events. Interesting to read about succession and how expectations were different for her growing up with an exclusion from deeper studies, such as science. The book provided information about growing up and how both the queen and Princess Margaret were “girl guides” and performed plays for her family and household. She was immersed in the Arts and continued to be actively involved as a patron during her life. The book presented the realities of life during war and with threats of bombs when she visited the United States. Her personal life and choices were in the public eye and others-including her sister--interfered with her ability to make choices. The book was first published in 2000 with revisions in 2002, 2018 and 2022.

[Alyssa Baessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing, intriguing, and engaging read. It's not every day you read a book that informs you about Monarchy and the Royal Family. In this intriguing book, Christopher Warwick introduces the life of Princess Margaret and the challenges she had to face to become and stay Princess Margaret. I will most remember when Princess Margaret was born, she called her older sister, Queen Elizabeth, Lilabeth because she was too young to pronounce it. Although I liked learning and hearing about the Royal Family's life, one drawback was learning about Margaret’s downfalls. She faced many challenges in life that affected her well-being and her overall self. If I could do it over, I would read this book because I love to learn about Royal life and Britain. One other thing I like to learn about is Queen Elizabeth, which she is mentioned in the book along with her and Princess Margaret growing up together.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good biography on Princess Margaret. Even though the big events in her life were touched on it left you wanting more. I believe for a person who led an interesting and off the royal path life there were details left unsaid. She was a fascinating person but details were skimmed over quickly. But I suppose being a royal there were many things that could not be said. Enjoyable but way to short of information.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting one to read. I've long seen Princess Margaret as an often misrepresented figure in the Modern Royal Family, and overall, this book really did show that. It was interesting to read more into her life than what is often found, and interesting to see that, despite what many see as the "Real Princess Margaret", what I found in these pages hit a little close to home, and made me look at her in a new, more endearing, light.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This informative biography of Princess Margaret does an adequate job of relaying the facts of her life without veering into unsubstantiated gossip. However the author's bias shows up in his efforts to gloss over the negative aspects of her life while doubling down on those of others in her orbit such as Princess Diana, for example.

[Ashley Hobgood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read this book out of curiosity. I enjoyed reading this book because I learned more about Princess Margaret's childhood, her relationship with her sister, her relationships with Peter Townsend and Anthony Armstrong-Jones, and her charity work. I loved that it was informative and well researched. I thought the book was well written. It's a must read.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting and informative

The book is full of knowledge and interesting facts. I did find it sometimes difficult to follow the biographical information of some people. As an American it is still a lot to follow with peerages and historical legacies. Overall, it is a wonderful book and biography of a inspirational Princess.

- An American who loves all things Royal.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 but I guess I'm not feeling generous today so I'll round down. It's a good book, for a biography authorized by the royal family which therefore clearly has to toe the line. I can't say I left it feeling like I really know Princess Margaret, just that I know about her. I suppose that small distinction makes all the difference in whether it's a book that's good or great.

[Deirdre E Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book by another ‘spare’ who took pleasure in delighting a select few, conducting themselves without decorum, embarrassing their family with their insecurities about not being first, publicly.
Thank you for your words Christopher Warwick, and Julian Elfer your eloquence was superb, very much appreciated Gentlemen :-)

[Carey Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my journey of reading up on the Royals, I really enjoyed this deep dive into the life of Princess Margaret. I appreciated the detail and stories of HRH’s upbringing, loves, family, faith, and her loyalty to the Queen.