Princess Margaret would be ‘horrified’ at Harry says Lady Glenconner
“Vivacious” Princess Margaret died 21 years ago to the day, with her February 15 funeral held on a poignant date for both Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother, falling exactly 50 years after that of Margaret’s father. The late Princess was very close with her dear “papa”, who had died when she was just 23, a fact that became even more evident in requests for her final resting place.
The 71-year-old — who died with her children, Lord David Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto, by her side — was cremated at Slough Crematorium at a £280 ceremony, around £450 today, unattended by members of the Royal Family, according to the Daily Mail.
Most senior, working royals are cremated or interred, but Queen Victoria’s fourth daughter, Princess Louise, was the last royal to be cremated in December 1939.
Although Margaret’s final wish to become the first royal to be cremated in more than 60 years seemed to be one last rebellious departure from tradition, something she had done throughout her life as the Queen’s younger sister, there was, in fact, a touching reason for her decision.
The Countess of Snowdon wished to be laid to rest alongside her father, King George VI, and, eventually, her mother, too. Margaret had a close bond with her late father, having spent the final few hours of his life before his untimely death from lung cancer eating with him.
Princess Margaret deliberately chose to (Image: Getty)
Princess Margaret’s coffin arriving at Slough crematorium (Image: Getty)
However, space was too limited in the royal vault at St George’s Chapel for Margaret to be buried conventionally, so she chose cremation.
Additionally, she did not like the burial ground at Frogmore — which she described as “gloomy” — where the likes of Queen Victoria and the notorious King Edward VIII are buried.
Margaret died on February 9, 2002, after suffering a third and final stroke. Her passing was met by members of the royal family expressing their grief with the now King Charles III stating she would be “terribly missed”.
Clarence House, then the Queen Mother’s residence, also released a statement that said she was “deeply saddened”. The former Prime Minister Tony Blair also noted that before she was ill, Margaret had given a “great deal of service to the country”, adding that she would be “remembered with a lot of affection”.
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Margaret said she did not wish to be buried at Frogmore because it is ‘gloomy’ (Image: Getty)
Margaret was cremated because she wanted to be buried with her father (Image: Getty)
The Queen Mother, then aged 101 and fragile, insisted on coming down to Windsor for her daughter’s funeral — held days after the anniversary of King George VI’s death — from Sandringham Castle.
Margaret’s dear friend since they were just three years old, Lady Anne Glenconner told Channel 5 in 2021: “It was terribly poignant because the Queen Mother was in a wheelchair, and when the coffin went by, she tried to stand up, and I think she might have had to have been helped up.”
The Princess had stipulated that she wanted to make her very final journey alone. Her English oak coffin was driven the three-and-a-half mile journey to Slough where it was met by the registrar, Roger Parkin, and various witnesses, including members of her staff and her private secretary, Viscount Ullswater.
Much like her dear father, Margaret struggled with health issues as she was also a smoker, having more than 60 cigarettes a day and drinking excessively.
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Princess Margaret suffered several strokes, the second of which left her wheelchair bound (Image: Getty)
Lady Glenconner said seeing Margaret so ill almost broke her heart (Image: Getty)
She had been in poor health for some time having become wheelchair-bound with her sight impaired due to a stroke suffered the year before her death.
The final two years of her life were “horrible” but her friends did what they could, visiting her and reading to her as much as possible, hoping to provide her with some companionship in her final days.
Lady Glenconner, Margaret’s former Lady in Waiting, choked up as she said: “In a way it was sad but I was so glad for Princess Margaret, who suffered so much at the end.
“For somebody like that, who had been so vivacious and beautiful, and enjoying life, to see her in a wheelchair, unable to see, broke my heart actually.”
