Did Princess Margaret suffer from lifelong
undiagnosed depression? And could a doomed early romance have been one of the sources
of Margaret's mental health struggles? Princess Margaret and her sister Queen Elizabeth II experienced a profound
loss at a relatively early age when their father, King George VI, died from lung cancer. Margaret
was only 22 years old when George passed away, and in the years that followed, many of her highs and
lows mirrored those of her dearly loved father's. King George VI died in his sleep following a
battle against lung cancer. As History.com notes, the monarch's unexpected passing had an
enormous impact on his oldest daughter, Elizabeth, who was named queen at the age of
25. His death also impacted Margaret's life, as she struggled with her role as the
second born or "spare" as her great-nephew Prince Harry infamously put it in his 2023
memoir. Royal author Andrew Morton told Fox News that the role didn't come easily
to the younger sister. As he put it, "Margaret was faced with struggles as a
spare […] The challenge is to find a relevant and meaningful role in life.
That
way you are not seen as someone standing in the shadow of somebody else, someone who is
going to be king or queen. It's difficult." Princess Margaret's place in the British royal family came with plenty of privileges that
only a handful of people have truly enjoyed, but it also came with setbacks and denials that
were difficult for her to bear. In 1944, Margaret met and fell in love with Group Captain Peter
Townsend, who worked for her father. Townsend was also a married father of two, though that
didn't seem to slow down the attraction the pair shared. Ultimately, Townsend and his wife divorced
in 1952 and he proposed to Margaret a year later. Unfortunately, Margaret's royal family
wasn't supportive of the relationship. Queen Elizabeth told her younger sister that
she and Townsend could not marry because he was a divorcee and the marriage would have
violated the Royal Marriages Act of 1772.
"It was essentially seen as a
sin to marry a divorced man." As a result, she would have had to give up
her status in the line of succession within the family. Margaret eventually
ended her engagement to Townsend, choosing to retain her status
within the royal family. "A divorcee couldn't even enter
the royal enclosure at royal ascot, never mind marry a royal princess.
It was just unheard of, unthinkable." Princess Margaret eventually met photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones
in 1958 when they both attended the same party — though nothing serious took off
between the pair until months later. The two made things official in May 1960 when they
married at Westminster Abbey. They had two children together, though the pair didn't
exactly enjoy a completely happy home life. As Biography has noted, both Margaret and
Armstrong-Jones were fond of drinking, and Margaret often began her day by drinking
vodka in bed, an act that eventually contributed to the many physical health problems
she faced as she aged.
Ultimately, Margaret and Armstrong-Jones parted ways
after each engaged in extra-marital affairs. Despite the fact that both Princess Margaret
and her ex-husband Tony Armstrong-Jones both had affairs while they were married, it seemed
that the British public turned on Margaret following their divorce. In an excerpt
from Ben Pimlott's 1996 book The Queen, the author explains that the announcement
of the divorce "destroyed" the image that the royal family had cultivated for so long that
they could do no wrong. Pimlott wrote in his book, "Princess Margaret was somebody people had grown
up with.
Although marriage break-ups were, by now, ten-a-penny in the outside world,
the revelation that the perfect family suffered from the same tensions
as many imperfect ones came as a shock." In his book, Pimlott also noted that
Margaret began to encounter negativity from the very media and press that had
so often celebrated the choices she'd previously made. Tabloid journalists began
to follow Margaret and report on each man she was seen with. This did little to
improve her standing with the public. Princess Margaret began to experience a
significant mental and physical decline following her divorce from Tony Armstrong-Jones. It has been reported that Margaret
suffered a breakdown in the 1970s, with some outlets writing that she attempted to
take her own life. As The Telegraph has noted, though the royal family denied that Margaret
attempted to die by suicide, others weren't so sure. Despite denials from family members and her
friends, author Caroline Davies told the outlet, "At the height of her distress, and
unable to sleep, she took a handful of Mogadon tablets and anxious staff
found they were unable to wake her." Margaret also contended with a number of
physical ailments, including three strokes and a lung biopsy.
The Guardian notes that her last
stroke caused problems with both the left side of her body and her sight; she was said to have
grown reclusive and reluctant to leave her home. Many people believe that though she was never
formally diagnosed, Princess Margaret suffered from depression. And like other members of
the royal family who have also struggled with their mental health in the face of huge
amounts of public attention and expectations, it seems that Margaret was largely left on
her own. In his book Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters,
royal author Andrew Morton bluntly states, "Let's face it, Margaret had depression and in the
Royal Family you are not allowed to be depressed." In his book, Morton also claims that this
was backed up by a friend of Margaret's, who he says explained to him, "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." It's also been said that this treatment went
all the way to the top. In Morton's book, the author alleges that when a concerned
friend told Queen Elizabeth that Margaret had threatened to jump out of her
bedroom window, the queen simply said, "Her bedroom is on the ground floor.".
