The public viewed Margaret as a frivolous hedonist, a drain on the taxpayers, and a royal freeloader because she had no sense of purpose. In their collective opinion, if she had appeared to devote herself to philanthropic causes instead of spending the majority of her time in the company of celebrities and enjoying theater, film, and jazz concerts (or had found a smart balance, as Princess Diana did), she could have redeemed her reputation. Clearly, Margaret’s selfishness and sexual escapades overshadowed her accomplishments—because she did visit AIDS patients, and was patron of the Migraine Trust and other charitable and philanthropic organizations to which she was genuinely dedicated, including the Royal Ballet and the Girl Guide association. But the princess stubbornly refused to behave graciously when an assignment was more of a task than a pleasure, and that was what people remembered. Those who found themselves on the wrong end of Margaret’s attitude had no qualms about expressing their disappointment. One member of a woman’s organization that received an official visit from Her Royal Highness admitted, “I’m afraid we weren’t very impressed. We had all worked so hard and looked forward to her visit so much. But she just didn’t seem to be interested. You felt that she was just getting through the whole business as quickly as she could. . . .” And a prominent Briton privately confided to Margaret’s biographer Theo Aronson, “When I meet a princess, I expect her to behave like a princess. It’s the least she can do.”
Although her revelations of Elizabeth’s and Margaret’s early lives was always viewed as a betrayal, Margaret’s former governess Marion Crawford saw the softer side of the girl, characterizing her as “a plaything. She was warm and demonstrative, made to be cuddled and played with.” Although Crawfie had little respect for Margaret’s spoiled temperament, when all is said and done it’s not such a bad thing to be “made to be cuddled and played with.”
Except perhaps if you’re a royal, as there’s always the pitfall of becoming a royal pain. Times journalist and editor Philip Howard observed of Margaret, “She is short of the exquisite discretion and majestic humility we demand from our monarchs. When attacked, her instinct is to bite back.” He prefaced these remarks with the assessment that “It was psychologically natural for the lively younger sister to become the royal equivalent of the enfant terrible.”
Acknowledgments
Perennial thanks to my agent, Irene Goodman, and my editor, Claire Zion, as well as to my husband, Scott, for his incomparable patience, support, and good humor. Bouquets to the following folks: Christine Trent for enthusiastically cheering me through every stage of the birthing process of Royal Pains; for snippets of Russian history, Jennifer Shikes Haines, Cara Elliott, and Simon Boughey; for additional Lettice Knollys background, Elizabeth Johnson; for the correct pronunciation of “Cjesthe,” Bob and Joseph Korda; for a quick lesson on Arab linguistics, Ambassador Mark Hambley. A shout-out to Nancy Meyer, for her wealth of knowledge on eighteenth-century law, and to the ladies of the Beaumonde for a lively discussion on the definition of a “wine cock.” A tremendous group hug to the community of historical fiction bloggers, including the “Round Table” ladies, who have supported my nonfiction writing with ebullience and enthusiasm. And finally to Dan Nastu, my “computer guru,” without whom this book (and many others) could not have been written—literally.
Selected Bibiliography
BOOKS
Aronson, Theo. Prince Eddy and the Homosexual Underworld. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1994.
———. Princess Margaret: A Biography. London: Michael O’Mara Books Limited, 2001.
Baldwin, David. Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower. Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, Ltd., 2002.
Barkeley, Richard. The Road to Mayerling: Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1958.
Borman, Tracy. Elizabeth’s Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen. London: Jonathan Cape, 2009.
Church, S. D., ed. King John: New Interpretations. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 1999.
Cook, Andrew. Prince Eddy: The King Britain Never Had. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2008.
Florescu, Radu, and Raymond T. McNally. Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431-1476. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1973.
Fraser, Antonia, ed. The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1999.
Fraser, Flora. Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.
Goldberg, Enid A., and Norman Itzkowitz. Vlad the Impaler: The Real Count Dracula. New York: Franklin Watts, 2008.
Hamann, Brigitte (trans. Ruth Hein). The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Berlin: Ullstein, 1998.
Haslip, Joan. The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria. London: Phoenix Press, 1965.
Heald, Tim. Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled. London: Phoenix, 2008.
Hibbert, Christopher. Napoleon: His Wives and Women. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.
———. The Royal Victorians: King Edward VII, His Family and Friends. Philadelphia and New York: J. P. Lippincott Company, 1976.
Judtmann, Fritz (trans. Ewald Osers). Mayerling: The Facts Behind the Legend. London, Toronto, Wellington, Sydney: George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., 1971.
Kendall, Paul Murray. Richard the Third. New York/London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.
Lewis, Brenda Ralph. A Dark History: The Kings and Queens of Europe from Medieval Tyrants to Mad Monarchs. New York: Metro Books, 2008.
Lloyd, Alan. The Maligned Monarch: A Life of King John of England. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972.
McNally, Raymond T., and Radu Florescu. In Search of Dracula. New York: Mariner Books, 1994.
Nicholas, Margaret. The World’s Wickedest Women. London: The Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1994.
Payne, Robert, and Nikita Romanoff. Ivan the Terrible. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1975.
Penrose, Valentine (trans. Alexander Trocchi). The Bloody Countess: Atrocities of Erzsebet Bathory. Solar Books, 2006.
Ronay, Gabriel. The Truth about Dracula. Briarcliff Manor, New York: First Day Books, 1979.
Ross, Charles. Richard III. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1981.
Tibballs, Geoff. Royalty’s Strangest Characters: Extraordinary But True Stories from Two Thousand Years of Mad Monarchs and Raving Rulers. London: Robson Books, 2005.
Tillyard, Stella. A Royal Affair: George III and His Scandalous Siblings. New York: Random House, 2006.
Troyat, Henri (trans. Joan Pinkham). Ivan the Terrible. New York: E. P. Dutton, Inc., 1984.
Turner, Ralph V. King John: England’s Evil King? Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing, Limited, 2005.
Vlad the Impaler: The Real Dracula. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC, 2008.
Warren, W. L. King John. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961, 1978.
ARTICLES
Adams, Simon. “Dudley, Lettice, Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester (1543-1634).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8159.
———. “Sheffield, Douglas, Lady Sheffield (1542/3-1608).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008.
Bradford, Sarah. “Margaret Rose, Princess, Countess of Snowdon (1930—2002).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, January 2006. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2009. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76713.
De-la-Noy, Michael. “Townsend, Peter Woolridge (1914-1995).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldma
n, May 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/59143.
Farrell, S. M. “Grosvenor, Richard, First Earl Grosvenor (1731- 1802).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11669.
Gillingham, John. “John (1167-1216).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14841.
Hicks, Michael. “Anne (1456-1485).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, October 2006. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/556.
———. “Elizabeth (c.1437—1492).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, May 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8634.
———. “George, Duke of Clarence (1449-1478).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10542.
Horrox, Rosemary. “Richard III (1452-1485).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23500.
Kilburn, Matthew. “Henry Frederick, Prince, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (1745-1790).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12963.
———. “William Henry, Prince, First Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743-1805).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29456.
Kiste, John Van der. “Albert Victor, Prince, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1864—1892).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/275.
WEB SITES:
http://www.historytoday.com
http://www.nndb.com
http://www.measuringworth.com
http://www.gocurrency.com
http://www.battlefieldstrust.com
N.B.: regarding relative monetary values: During the writing of this book the American dollar fluctuated widely against the British pound, with an average conversion rate of £1 to $1.65. Financial calculations from British pounds in a given year to American dollars as of 2008 (which is as far as the Web site goes as of this writing) were obtained from www.measuringworth.com. The sums I provided “in today’s economy” and similar wording are rounded numbers, not intended to be an exact calculation but to give readers a general sense of the monetary values then and now.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LESLIE CARROLL is the author of several works of women’s fiction and, under the pen name Amanda Elyot, is a multipublished historical fiction writer. She and her husband, Scott, divide their time between New York City and southern Vermont. Royal Pains is her third foray into the field of historical nonfiction. Meet the author at www.lesliecarroll.com.
Let’s Dish the Dirt on Royal Pains!
For Royal Affairs, my maiden voyage into nonfiction, I set up a blog at www.royalaffairs.blogspot.com, and over the years it’s become a lively discussion hub for my royal nonfiction titles.
Please visit the blog to chat with me about the fascinating lives and tempestuous personalities profiled in my books, as well as juicy tidbits about other notorious royals. I welcome reading group leaders to set up a “tryst,” choosing a blog day all to yourselves, where I’ll discuss the book interactively with your members. Alternatively, we can set up an interactive speakerphone chat during your book club meeting. To do so, please contact me through my Web site.
ALSO BY LESLIE CARROLL
Notorious Royal Marriages
Royal Affairs
Royal Romances
Royal Pains: A Rogues' Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds Page 35