Royal Sisters
Page 42
248 (“... now seemed unrealistic.”) Parliament granted Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, only £8,000 for the redecoration of Clarence House, as they had so recently paid £100,000 preparing it for Princess Elizabeth. The Queen Mother personally made up the difference.
Chapter 17
255 (“... the Coronation dress ...”) The final magnificent Coronation gown, in white satin and trimmed with thousands of fine gems, contained jeweled emblems representing the following Dominions: England: the Tudor Rose (pearls and rose diamonds); Scotland: the Thistle (amethysts and diamonds); Ireland: the Shamrock (green silk and diamonds); Wales: the Leek (diamonds with leaves of palest green silk); Canada: the Maple Leaf (gold bullion thread veined in crystal); Australia: the Waffle Flower (green and gold thread); New Zealand: the Fern (green thread with silver and crystal); South Africa: the Protea (rose diamonds); India; the Lotus Flower (seed pearls, mother-of-pearl and diamonds); Pakistan: Wheat, Cotton and Jute (oat-shaped diamonds and silver and gold thread); and Ceylon: again the Lotus Flower (opals, mother-of-pearl and diamonds).
256 (“... Montgomery, Tedder and Cunningham ...”) The horses were named for: General Arthur William (1st Baron) Tedder (1890–1967), Marshal of the RAF; Admiral Andrew Browne (1st Viscount) Cunningham (1883–1963), Commander in Chief during the Second World War in the Mediterranean; General (1st Viscount) Montgomery (1887–1976).
258 “Princess Andrew,” Prince Philip’s mother, soon moved into Buckingham Palace where she lived until her death in 1969.
259 (“... various heads of state ...”) Present at the Coronation were: The Crown Prince of Norway, Prince George of Greece, Prince Axel of Denmark, Prince Bertel of Sweden, Prince Albert of Liège, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, M. Georges Bedault representing France, M. Jacob Malik, representing Russia, and Miss Fleur Cowles and General and Mrs. George Marshall representing General Eisenhower and the United States.
259(... “Tonga ...”) The small British Protectorate of Tonga, with a population of 34,000, had been the first to cable allegiance to the Crown at the outbreak of the Second World War.
259 (“... his Garter finery ...”) Sir Winston Churchill received the Garter from Queen Elizabeth II on April 24, 1953. “What a romantic picture,” Chips Channon wrote, “—the aged Prime Minister kneeling at the feet of the young Queen: like Melbourne and Queen Victoria. What a scene, one day for a painted window, or fresco.”
259 (“the Coronation service ...”) The Coronation service falls into three stages: 1. The Recognition and the Oath—the new Sovereign is formally accepted by the people, and this acceptance is sealed by her pledge to govern them well and truly according to the Constitution. 2. The Anointing, the Investiture and the Crowning, in which the Sovereign is consecrated as the Lord’s anointed and receives the Insignia of her royal office, such as the Crown and Sceptre. 3. The Enthronement and the Homage—the Sovereign having been acclaimed, anointed, and crowned, is “lifted up into” her Throne and receives the homage of her subjects.
Chapter 18
267 (“Three top men in the Government ...”) Within the next five years several more leading politicians joined the ranks of divorced men. And in 1957, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Private Secretary, Commander Michael Parker, was sued for divorce as the guilty party. He resigned his post but remained on good terms with the Duke of Edinburgh.
270 (“There on the tarmac ...”) Townsend was to meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip only once again, a number of years later over cocktails.
271 (“... that brutal separation.”) Peter Townsend wrote [Time and Chance, p. 154]: “For reasons doubtless valid, but best known to himself, Hugo would later abaondon the church of his fathers—and godfather [King George VI]. Today he is a brother in the Roman order of Carmel.”
271 (“... harmful to the Monarchy.”) One author’s explanation [The Peter Townsend Story, Norman Barrymaine] of the need to “banish” Townsend and Princess Margaret from Britain should they marry was: “If it was made easy for a member of the Royal Family to contract out of the succession, it might prove just as easy to make a King or Queen of some person who was not in the line.” [Barrymaine, p. 89] In fact, Prince Michael of Kent renounced his place in the succession to marry Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in 1978. However, his two children, Lord Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor, remain in the succession.
273 (“... his own school ...”) Prince Charles was also to attend Gordonstoun in the years 1962 to 1965, several years after Hélène Foufonis Cordêt’s son, Max Boisot, had graduated.
Chapter 19
276“[Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon.] Sir Michael [Edward] Adeane” (1910-): ADC to Governor-General of Canada (1934–1936); served in the war (1939–1945); Page of Honour to George V; Equerry and Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen (1952–1953) and to George VI (1937–1952).
276 (“... disciplinary action.”) Chapter 39 of the 1215 Charter and Chapter 29 of the 1297 Charter of the Magna Charta contain the statute: “No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or to be outlawed or exiled, or any other wise destroyed nor will we not pass upon him nor [condemn him] but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man outside justice or right.”
Chapter 42 of the 1215 Magna Charta also states: “It shall be lawful for anyone (except always those imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom, and natives of any country at war with us, and merchants who shall be treated as is above provided) to leave our Kingdom and to return safe and secure by land and water, except for a short period in time of war....”
277 “([Margaret’s] ... bitterness.”) By the late sixties, Princess Margaret’s (and the Queen’s) first cousin Lord Harewood had divorced his first wife and remarried. (In fact, he had fathered a son with his future second wife before he had divorced his first.) He was not omitted from the succession (although, admittedly, as number seventeen at that time, he was far removed) and was accepted at Court. Princess Margaret’s sacrifice seemed to have done more to liberate the tenets of the Court than to set an example. The final irony would come when she divorced her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon, in 1978.
280“The Royal Party” on the tour included: Sir Michael Adeane, Private Secretary; Colonel Martin Charteris, Assistant Private Secretary; Commander Richard Colville, Press Secretary; Lady Pamela Mountbatten and Lady Alice Egerton, Ladies-in-Waiting; Viscount Althorp (future father of Diana, the Princess of Wales), Deputy Controller of the Household; Commander Michael Parker, Private Secretary to Prince Philip; Vice-Admiral Abel Smith, Flag Officer of the ship Gothic (used for a large part of the tour); Captain David Aitchison, the Gothic; Surgeon-Commander D. D. Steele Perkins; and temporary Equerries from Australia—Wing Commander Michael Cowan and Lieutenant Jeremy Hall.
281 (“... Lady Pamela Hicks ...”) Lady Pamela Mountbatten married David Hicks, the designer and decorator, in 1960.
Chapter 20
287 “[Sir Maurice] Harold Macmillan” (1894–1990): Minister of Housing (1951–1954); Minister of Defense (1954–1955), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1955–1957), Prime Minister (1957–1963). On his ninetieth birthday in 1984, an Earldom was bestowed on him and he took the title Earl of Stockton.
288 The “King George IV State Diadem” is perhaps the most familiar of the Crown Jewels. Although King George IV had the diadem made for his Coronation, he never wore it. But Queen Victoria wore it at her Coronation and at almost every gala or state occasion whether it was appropriate or not. She is pictured wearing it on the world’s first postage stamp, issued in 1840, when it became familiar throughout the world. Queen Elizabeth is pictured with it on all United Kingdom postage stamps and wears it every year to and from the State Opening of Parliament. She inherited the diadem from her father, King George VI (who had reclaimed it from King Edward VIII), and upon her death or abdication it will go to the next Monarch.
288 (“... heavy Robe of State.”) The Q
ueen also wore the Robe of State on arriving at the Abbey for her Coronation. It is made of white ermine evenly decorated with small black ermine tails and has a crimson velvet train over eighteen feet long and four feet wide, completely lined in ermine and banded in gold. It had been previously worn by Queen Victoria and by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
288 (“... Imperial State Crown ...”) Although made of gold, the jewels in the Imperial State Crown are set in silver. The Crown contains 2,873 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies. The center piece of the base has at its front the enormous 317.4-carat Second Star of Africa, cut from the famous Cullinan Diamond.
289 (“... wryly humorous.”) A controversial portrait of Churchill by Graham Sunderland was presented and unveiled on this occasion, and with “perfectly wicked timing” that brought loud laughter Sir Winston described it in a mock innocent voice as “a great example of modern art.” Both Sir Winston and Lady Churchill felt “deep dislike” [Soames, p. 501] for the portrait, which they thought was “a cruel and gross travesty of Winston, showing all the ravages of time and revealing nothing of the warmth and humanity of his nature,” [Ibid., p. 446] and had it destroyed a year later. Only photographs of it remain.
291 (“... the shambling Billy Wallace.”) In June 1954, Noël Coward had attended one of the theatrical performances put on for charity by Princess Margaret and her friends. Of Billy Wallace’s performance he had written in his dairy: “Billy Wallace, the leading man, ambled on and off the stage with his chin stampeding into his chest.” [Coward, p. 236]
292“... the Manleys ...” Norman Manley (1893–1969), Jamaica’s Chief Minister (1955–1959) and Prime Minister (1959–1962), and his wife.
“Adlai Stevenson” (1900–1965) was the Democratic presidential candidate against Eisenhower in 1952 and again in 1956.
303 (“Lord Salisbury ...”) Robert Arthur James Gascoyne, 5th Marquess of Salisbury (1893–1972), Conservative statesman, leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords (1945–1951), leader of the House of Lords (1951–1957). In March 1957, he was to carry through his threat of resignation. However, not in protest of any action of Princess Margaret, but in protest against the Government’s unconditional release of Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus from his Seychelles exile.
Chapter 21
308(Townsend/Margaret meetings) The schedule for the eighteen days of Group Captain Townsend’s leave in which the Princess Margaret made her decision was as follows: Wednesday, October 12, Townsend arrived at 19 Lowndes Square. Thursday, October 13, Princess Margaret returned to London from Balmoral. They met for two hours that evening at Clarence House. Friday, October 14, they left in separate cars for a weekend at Allanbay Lodge, the home of Major and Mrs. John Wills. Monday, October 17, they returned again in separate cars and dined with Mr. and Mrs. Mark Bonham Carter in Kensington. Tuesday, October 18, they met at Clarence House. Wednesday, October 19, they did not meet. That night Princess Margaret dined at Lambeth Palace with the Archbishop. Thursday, October 20, they dined with Major and Mrs. Wills in their London home in Belgravia. Friday, October 21, they dined with Mr. and Mrs. Michael Brand in Chelsea. Saturday, October 22, they met at Clarence House. Sunday, October 23, they did not meet and Princess Margaret went down to Windsor to speak with the Queen. Monday, October 24, Townsend and Princess Margaret met at Clarence House in the afternoon. In the evening they had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. John Lowther [Mrs. Lowther was the former Jennifer Bevan, Princess Margaret’s erstwhile Lady-in-Waiting] in Kensington. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh of October, they met at Clarence House. On the last evening, the Princess saw the Archbishop of Canterbury. Friday, October 28, Townsend and Princess Margaret traveled separately for their final weekend together at Uckfield House, Sussex, the estate of Lord and Lady Nevill. Astonishingly, not once during those eighteen days were they ever seen together in public.
312 (“... controversial editorial ...”) It is important that the date of The Times editorial was October 26, 1955, not October 24, 1955, as reported in many books written later about the Princess Margaret–Townsend affair or in biographies of members of the Royal Family. The error was first made in The Peter Townsend Story by Norman Barrymaine (1958) and repeated in Majesty by Robert Lacey. Townsend even made the error himself in his autobiography Time and Chance. The editorial (see Appendices) was a strong indictment of Margaret and her wish to marry Townsend and has been considered by many historians to be the raison d’être for their final breakup. This was not the case. Their decision had already been made and a statement to this effect written. Because the statement was not released until October 31, The Times editorial was popularly and incorrectly believed to have been the catalyst.
Chapter 22
320 (“... grounds of his infidelity.”) Commander Michael Parker announced the end of his marriage on the last wing of his 1956–1957 world tour with Prince Philip. Because he was the guilty party, he resigned immediately from his position as Private Secretary to Prince Philip.
Sources
Authors and/or titles of books are given in the most convenient abbreviated form; full details can be found in the Bibliography, alphabetically according to the author’s last name. Titles are used when multiple references have been made to one author’s works.
Page Chapter 1
9 “so nicknamed because”: Martin, The Woman He Loved, p. 207.
9 “Let’s drive over”: Duchess of Windsor, p. 224.
10 “made a complete”: Ibid.
10 “from one of the”: Sheridan, From Cabbages to Kings, p. 58.
11 “all enthusiasm and”: Duchess of Windsor, p. 224.
11 “justly famous charm”: Ibid., p. 232.
12 “A distinct impression”: Ibid., p. 225.
12 “the great encircling”: Sheridan, pp. 59–60.
12 “a cascade of”: Ibid.
13 “This is Lilibet”: Duchess of Windsor, p. 225.
13 “a long, slender”: Crawford, p. 24.
13 “an enchanting doll-like”: Ibid.
13 “To see my sovereign”: Ibid., p. 8.
13 “were both so”: Duchess of Windsor, p. 225.
13 “had a proprietary”: Crawford, p. 29.
14 “Well, of course,”: private interview
14 “besotted by Mrs.”: Edwards, p. 402.
Chapter 2
15 “ravenously”: Airlie, p. 178.
15 “society girls”: Ibid.
15 “God save the”: Asquith, Haply I May Remember, p. 195.
16 “a mission of”: Cathcart, Her Majesty, p. 3.
16 “glimmered on polished”: Ibid.
16 “restlessly wandered”: Laird, Queen Elizabeth, p. 89.
16 “and saw to it”: Ibid.
17 “Such relief and joy”: Wheeler-Bennett, p. 203.
18 “to congratulate Bertie”: Harewood, p. 209.
18 “the state of”: Cathcart, p. 6.
18 “Of course, poor baby cried”: Wheeler-Bennett, p. 210.
19 “twice a day”: Cathcart, p. 38.
20 “more rigorous”: Wheeler-Bennett, p. 212.
20 “appalled at the”: Ibid.
20 “the car had”: Ibid., p. 318.
21 “all the things”: Laird, p. 41.
21 “deep Christian”: Ibid., p. 93.
21 “Our sweet little”: Gore, p. 380.
21 “bathed his babies”: Ibid., p. 367.
21 “sweet little Lilibet”: Ibid.
21 “shuffling on hands”: Ibid., p. 380.
21 “a man who”: H. Nicolson, King George V, p. 426.
22 “demonstrations of the”: Wheeler-Bennett, p. 218.
22 “Here comes the”: Cathcart, p. 109.
22 “For a few”: F. Lascelles, p. 200.
23 “in the firm”: Cathcart, p. 13.
23 Note: “From there”: Harewood, p. 5.
23 “into the long”: Sheridan, From, Cabbages to Kings, p. 66.
; 23 “There were enormous”: Ibid.
24 “As we went down”: Ibid.
24 “There was a doughy”: Ibid.
24 “a large room”: Ibid., p. 34.
24 “The baby Princess”: Ibid., p. 36.
25 “Princess Elizabeth ... tottered”: Asquith, p. 192.
25 “as belonging less”: Morrah, Princess Elizabeth, p. 21.
25 “the seemingly endless”: Ibid.
26 “May I say”: Wheeler-Bennett, p. 209.
26 “I don’t believe”: A. Lascelles, p. 109.
26 Note: “It was very difficult”: Birkenhead.
27 “always immaculately”: A. Lascelles, p. x.
27 “seen him sober”: private interview.
27 “idol had”: Ibid.
27 “unbridled pursuit”: Ibid.
27 “I expected”: Ibid.
27 “strongly inclined”: Ibid.
27 “as a place”: Ibid.
28 “ ‘No, I mean for good’ ”: Ibid.
28 “and then, guillotine fashion”: Duke of Windsor,
28 A King’s Story, p. 63.
28 “for some hereditary”: private interview.
28 “full of curiosity, and”: Duke of Windsor, p. 188.
29 “He was never out of the thrall”: private interview.
30 “He had, in my opinion”: Ibid.
30 “never be king”: Frankland, p. 26.
30 “[The Prince of Wales]”: Howarth, p. 37.
30 “either from the pollinating”: Hare wood, p. 14.
30 “A basic kindness”: Ibid.
31 “hilarious sounds of splashing”: Crawford, p. 11.
Chapter 3
34 “a grisly-looking”: Asquith, Haply I Remember, p. 23.
34 “a guest, who”: Ibid.
34 “heavy with atmosphere”: Ibid.