Royal Sisters by Anne Edwards

Author:Anne Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781630762667
Publisher: Lyons Press

Footnote

* Although Princess Elizabeth and her husband were generally referred to as the Edinburghs, technically the Princess had become a Mountbatten on her marriage. See footnote page 360.

14

The Royal Family were devout Anglicans. The King regularly attended Divine Service and expected his wife and daughters to do so, too. Their faith, as well as his, “was profound and sincere.” A daily listener to a morning wireless prayer program called “Lift Up Your Hearts,” the King would invariably introduce the sermon of the day into his familial conversations at lunch or tea. When Lilibet was at home, he enjoyed sharing these discussions with her, although both were diffident in conversing about deeper spiritual issues.

Religious belief is a difficult thing to measure. Margaret’s religious conviction, however, was undoubtedly strong. At fourteen she had sought permission to be confirmed but was made to wait two years until she was sixteen, the age of Lilibet’s confirmation. Her deep and abiding spirituality had been inculcated by Alah who believed in godliness and cleanliness above all else. Margaret never traveled without her Bible (a small white leather edition tooled in gold and presented to her at her confirmation); she kept it by her bedside and read from it every night before going to sleep.

Her questions at the King’s mealtime theological discussions were often disconcerting. “What is love?” she once asked. “How can you define and recognise when it is real and when it is not?” Margaret was groping to find a place for herself, cramming her days and nights with friends and activity to fill the void she sensed was at the center of her being. Lilibet, on the other hand, was fulfilled, certain of the good choices she had made in her private life and steadfast in her path of duty. And while Lilibet’s public image had taken on a more dignified stature, Margaret was considered “a real cracker.” As one cockney admirer put it, “She’s a natural sort of a gel that likes a good time. I say let ’er ’ave ’er bit of a fling. She’ll ’ave to settle soon enough!” Almost overnight Margaret had become a media star and pro- and anti-Margaret factions made themselves heard.

From the rich conservatives came grumblings about her late hours and dancing, her public imbibing of a cocktail now and then, her smoking, and her new Molyneaux wardrobe that showed too much of the royal figure. (The Queen, in fact, had insisted one gown be sent back to Molyneaux’s London workrooms with an order that the décolleté neckline be raised.) But for every critic, Margaret had twice as many followers, and copies of her low-cut gowns and sleek black or gold cigarette holders, and cerise lipstick (called Margaret Rose-Red) became immensely popular.

She stood “a shade over five feet tall, had a 23 inch waist and 34 inch bust,” a fitter indiscreetly disclosed, commenting also, that her “large, expressive blue eyes,” seemed fixed “in a quizzical look.” Margaret’s nose was, perhaps, a tad too long to qualify her as a classic beauty.

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