Unhappy fairytale
Nigel Dempster
Margaret, Princess Without a Cause Willi Frischauer (Michael Joseph £4.25)
The British are reputed to be third in the world league of per capita purchasers of daily reading matter and, judging by the banks of glossy and other publications stacked on newsagents' shelves, we must be pretty near the top of that league (after Japan and Sweden) as well.
But how much of what is printed for our information and delectation can we believe? The credibility erosion has been creeping on apace in recent weeks thanks to the miscued British Leyland affair (Daily Mail), the 'official' Prince Charles *engagement (Daily Express) and, worst of all, the 'fourth man' allegation against the late Donald Beves (The Times).
The hazard of buying reading matter whether it be a book, newspaper or magazine -lies in the degree of veracity and accuracy one believes it imparts. For instance many gullible purchasers of Time were only alerted to its slipshod research when it produced, back in the days of the so-called 'Swinging Sixties', a fatuous cover piece which proved that its highly-paid authors knew virtually nothing about London and its 'swinging' inhabitants, going so far as to make a dozen gross errors in as many paragraphs and producing hoots of derision by labelling John Aspinall, the then proprietor of Lord Lucan's favoured hideaway, The Clermont Club, as 'Jolly Jack'.
A minor matter, you may think, but it served a purpose in casting doubt on any other item which Time has published since in the minds of those who personally knew the gobbledygook written about 'Swinging London'. Which brings me to Willi Frishchauer's latest unauthorised biography (a tome about Jackie Onassis was the last) on the subject of Princess Margaret. It is unauthorised beca use Frisch a uer a uthorised biographer (some would say hagiographer) of Aristotle Onassis and David Frost did not obtain an interview with the victim nor, he told me recently, did he seek one. For all that ills more gossipy and less factual. Tales of Margaret's deeds and misdeeds as perpetrated by the diary columns through the ages -not to mention Godfrey Winn and his imitators are served up warm again but there is little in the book which can be credited to original scholarship.
In his introduction, Frischauer by the by, a most professional journalist claims: 'I have talked to a great many kid. people, some very close to her at one point I Was up against the old problem that those who talk don't know and those who know don't talk, but in the event, both, friends and foes, were very forthcoming if equally anxious to preserve their anonymity.'
So far, so good. On closer inspection we are able to ascertain that one of the people who has both known and talked is Jocelyn Stevens through whom (and the Daily Express) the 'official' separation story was leaked in March 1975. As a veteran friend of Snowdon, not to mention onetime employer at Queen magazine, Jocelyn is in an unique position to have been of aid to Frischauer's inquiries. It may 'not surprise you, dear reader, to learn that he has been as helpful, and unhelpful, as he has wished to be.
Perhaps Princess Margaret's closest friends are Colin Tennant and his wife Lady Anne, daughter of' the late Earl of Leicester. It has been to their private Caribbean island, Mustique, that Margaret has journeyed in times of stress. And it was there, at the house which Tennant built the Princess as a wedding present, that the final acts in
the drama which led to her separation from Snowdon were played out with the help of Roddy Llewellyn. • Clearly Frishauer has not been able to solicit information,, apart from voluminous (and inaccurate) cuttings, from Tennant nor has Margaret's 'kissing cousin', the Earl of Lichfield, been of literary succour – which is to, the detriment of the author and reader as both know many parts of the jigsaw which make up the complex character of the Queen's sister.
Without the aid of . royal confidantes, Frischauer paints a portrait of Margaret as spoilt, wilful, oppressed by the thought of playing second fiddle, overpowering and, on one occasion, responsible for driving a hard-pressed courtier to drink because of her erratic habits. Journalistic clichés are repeated. We are told that Townsend and Prince Philip hated each other and that the latter was responsible, in part, for exiling the gallant Group Captain as a result. On the contrary, the two royal suitors were, and have remained, on cordial terms. There are references to rifts between the Queen and Margaret over the latter's behaviour, one of a year's duration, To use a royal expression: 'Absolute piffle.'
Frischauer states that the last time that Townsend and Margaret met was in March 1958 and describes a tea at Clarence House at which the Queen Mother was also present. In a conversation with Townsend this week, I was told that no such meeting took Place but for further information on the matter we must wait for his own autobiographywhich will appear in France this autumn. Tennant is said to have known Margaret during her romance with Townsend and the couple met furtively in his house. In truth, Tennant did not meet the Princess until they were both involved in a charity play called The Frog in 1954, a Year after Townsend's banishment to Belgium on the instructions of Winston Churchill.
Much of the book is devoted to Margaret's early days and the Townsend affair which I found fascinating (again, as an uninformed reader until I took the trouble to rind out). The Snowdon chapters told me little that I did not already know. As for the advent of Roddy Llewellyn, credited with causing the break-up of the marriage, I felt, quite rightly, that I had read it all before. Clearly Frischauer has not spoken to him, and thus gleaned new and original angles to .the sad histo ire.
As Frischauer states, Princess Margaret is a sexy lady credited, fairly or unfairly, with a busy love life. But apart, from names out of cuttings, we are given no new information and the reader's prurient tastes are left unsated. Snowdon and Margaret are two highly literate and intelligent people, yet they managed to screw up a fairytale marriage, He went off with a divorcée and, at a later date, Margaret took solace in the comPany of a man seventeen years her junior. But as to the reasons why we are left without information or guidance.
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