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Before Meghan Markle and Diana, Princess Margaret's mental health was ignored: 'Not allowed to be depressed'

'Let’s face it, Princess Margaret was a depressed person, and in the royal family you are not allowed to be depressed,' Lord Glenconner, a friend of the princess, had once said about the royals ignoring her mental anguish
UPDATED MAR 24, 2021
Princess Royal arrives on The 3rd day of The Royal Meeting at Ascot Racecourse on June 18, 2009 in Ascot, England. (Getty Images)
Princess Royal arrives on The 3rd day of The Royal Meeting at Ascot Racecourse on June 18, 2009 in Ascot, England. (Getty Images)

Princess Margaret allegedly accused royals of ignoring her mental anguish even before late Princess Diana did, reveals biographer Andrew Morton. Princess Margaret throughout her life had been labeled the black sheep of the family who was known for excessive drinking and smoking. She was also criticized for her exuberant lifestyle, especially after her marriage with Lord Snowden fell apart.

A report in Daily Mail has quoted close friends of the Princess Royal and her nanny, Marion Crawford, to explain how she fell into depression and the repercussions of belonging to the royal family. Princess Margaret's relationship with her sister, Queen Elizabeth was a complex one, filled with sibling rivalry and a lot of drama. Media reports would always side with the Queen who would be termed as gracious for how she reacted to her sister's theatrics. 

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Margaret had apparently told her friend about this bias. "When there are two sisters and one is the Queen who must be the source of honor and all that is good, the other must be the focus of the most creative malice, the evil sister," she said. In addition to this, she was also quoted as saying "Disobedience is my joy."

It has also been reported that Margaret had never expressed the desire to want to switch places with her sister. This is despite the differences that were enforced between the two sisters from an early age. From the length of their trains at the coronation ceremony of their father King George VI to the privileges that Elizabeth enjoyed when they had moved to the Buckingham Palace, many instances have been quoted by Margaret's one-time nanny, Crawford. She said that the move created, "a glass curtain... between you [the young princesses] and the outer world." She has added that the two girls had "relied totally on each other for companionship, spending much of their time staring out of their windows at people passing below." She noted that from the time they moved into the palace, "Elizabeth was granted privileges denied to Margaret."

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930 - 2002) arrives in England after her tour of Canada, 12th August 1958. (Photo by Victor Blackman/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Royal historian Hugo Vickers said "Margaret did resent her lack of education very much," and added "She blamed her mother for it. I don’t think she ever forgave her." While Elizabeth, the queen-in-waiting, studied history and had lessons on the constitution, Margaret was limited to lessons in dancing, sewing, knitting, and drawing. The first of troubles struck Margaret following the death of her father in 1952. From being the life of a party along with her husband Lord Snowden, she changed into a recluse who had to take drugs to calm her nerves. About this time, Margaret had later said, "‘there was an awful sense of being in a black hole [and] feeling tunnel-visioned."

In the mid-1960s. Margaret's mental health took a worse turn as her marriage with Snowden began to get shaky. During Christmas 1966, her friends observed that she took to smoking, drinking, and even calling a few of them in the middle of the night. One friend recalled, "She would ring at one or two in the morning," and added, "You would dress and go round and there she’d be in floods and the whisky bottle would be empty."

In 1967, Margaret had officially checked into King Edward VII’s Hospital in Central London, The speculation about her hospital visit revolved around popular rumors of her overdosing on pills and alcohol. Margaret had reportedly called a friend a week before this and told him that if he did not check up on her immediately she would throw herself from the bedroom window. The friend had then called Elizabeth who had allegedly responded, "‘Carry on with your house party. Her bedroom is on the ground floor." Response from the other royal family member was reportedly similarly callous and uncaring. 

Princess Margaret speaks to royal ballet dancer David Wall in 1978 during a Covent Garden Opera House after the premiere of the ballet, 'Mayerling.' Princess Margaret died peacefully in her sleep at 1:30AM ET at the King Edward VII Hospital on February 9, 2002 in London.(Getty Images)

Her mental health continued to deteriorate further, especially when news of her husband's affair with aristocratic model Lady Jacqueline Rufus Isaacs broke. Her friend Colin Tennant, now Lord Glenconner had remarked, "Let’s face it, Princess Margaret was a depressed person, and in the royal family you are not allowed to be depressed. In her circle, you didn’t mention the word." Another friend was quoted as saying, "No one is allowed to be ill in that family. But the family’s lack of understanding is making the princess’s moods even blacker." Princess Margaret died in her sleep at the King Edward VII hospital on February 9, 2002, without ever openly discussing her mental health battles or how the royal family ignored her cries for help.

This indifference to mental health risk was what Diana reportedly faced a decade later when she was suffering from the eating disorder 'bulimia nervosa'. In the present, both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, have claimed that the family was indifferent to Meghan's call for help about her mental health.

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