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MARGARET WAS THE FIRST CELEBRITY ROYAL

Princess Margaret

Saturday August 16,2008

By Richard and Judy

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(2)

RICHARD SAYS...I vividly remember the day of Princess Margaret’s wedding to Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 because I fell down our stairs, top to bottom, and it was all Margaret’s fault.

Hers was the first televised royal wedding. I was nearly four and I sat with my mother in front of our 14-inch black and white television set.

I was inspired by the sight of dukes and earls cloaked in ermine robes, so I rushed upstairs and put on my father’s long, purple dressing gown. But I tripped over the hem on the landing and tumbled down to the hall, legs tangled in the bottom banisters. No more royal wedding for me; it was off to hospital to check for concussion.

I relived my accident this week while watching the fascinating documentary Margaret: The Tabloid Princess on Five. It had never occurred to me before but Margaret was clearly the first, 20 years before Diana took her place in the harsh glare of the paparazzi’s flashbulbs.

Margaret was the person over whose head broke the long-contained avalanche of press and public fascination with the Royal Family. Until her, Fleet Street had maintained a respectful relationship with the House of Windsor.

Nothing about them was printed unless it had first been fully approved by the Palace. When royals expired or their babies were born, a wall of silence prevailed until a scrap of paper giving the bare details was posted on the gates of Buckingham Palace, for the benefit of a grateful pack of salivating hacks.

But in 1953, a tiny piece of fluff brought about the sudden collapse of this kid-gloves approach to royalty. At the Coronation, sharp-eyed journalists spotted Margaret picking a speck of lint from the lapel of her secret boyfriend Group Captain Peter Townsend. This handsome war hero would have been the perfect suitor were he not a divorced father of two.

A Sunday scandal sheet broke ranks and ran the story, front page. Circulation rocketed. The gloves were off.
Margaret, to her credit, didn’t give a stuff. She dropped Townsend and went on to live a life completely on her own colourful terms.

We discussed her on our show this week with people who knew her and the extent of the change in the media’s approach to the Royal Family could scarcely have been more apparent when I heard myself ask: “Did Margaret sleep around?” (Despite lurid rumours, she didn’t. Well, not much.)

Imagine asking that question a couple of decades ago. It would have been the Tower or exile for sure.

PITY SHE WAS NOT THE LAST

19.08.08, 9:02pm

'to her credit'? really? 'lived life on her own terms'? thanks to our money.

She was a nasty, bitter old snob whose own children thought so little of her that they flogged off all her possesions. For closure no doubt.

The young 'royals' photographed staggering out of nightclubs are at least human and relatable. They were always drunks, weren't allowd to see it. The queen mother even had her 4million pound gambling debt written off. e should all be so lucky.

• Posted by: brusselssprouts • Report Comment

ROYALS AND THE MEDIA

17.08.08, 11:52am

Richard and Judy show that the trend of the Media and Royals as 'gossip fodder' are a subject that sells papers and magazines
Saying that, I rather believe that various members of the 'Royal Circle' and their hangers-on and associates, 'court' the media for their own ends. i.e. Fame By Association syndrome.

I still do not think that various personal questions should be asked of the Royal Family, but sometimes they put themselves in a position where comment will be passed, thus leading to further questioning. Constitutionally, the Royal Family in their privileged position are courting the press not to their best advantage. Some of the younger Royals should take stock, pull back and question the suitability of the company they keep. Maybe if they are seen to be behaving in such a manner, the media would back off? But as long as Princes William and Harry and their friends are seen falling out of nightclubs at all hours drunk, the media will be handed an opportunity for a story of sorts. Especially when their companions do not help by allowing them to gain the publicity by not stopping them getting drunk in the first place!

I don't think The Queen would appreciate being called a 'Celebrity Royal'........nor Princess Anne come to that!

• Posted by: Lamb3 • Report Comment