Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal

This compelling two-part documentary profiles Princess Margaret, whose life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolution that transformed Britain during the 20th Century.

With sumptuous archive and a series of revealing interviews, the series follows Margaret’s life as she re-defined our image of the modern princess.

This deeply personal account reveals how Princess Margaret’s character combined the rebellious force of modernity and respect for tradition. In this she embodied the spirit of cultural change in the second half of the 20th Century.

Episode one begins in 1930 with the birth of Margaret Rose Windsor, a princess of the largest Empire the world had ever seen. The abdication of her uncle propelled the princess to being second in line to the throne. Margaret's life would be shaped by dramatic social change as Britain entered a more egalitarian era after the Second World War. The sister of the future Queen needed a role in this new world; it involved everything from opening council housing estates and visiting schools to opening flower shows. Privately Margaret preferred fashion, theatre and house parties. Aged 16, Margaret fell in love with Peter Townsend, a married man. Clergy and politicians were against the relationship but the public voiced support for Margaret's right to marry the man of her choice.

In 1955, Margaret decided not to marry Townsend; she said she'd chosen duty. But in 1960, the royal rebel married bohemian photographer and ‘commoner’ Antony Armstrong-Jones. Margaret was drawn into a circle of artists, writers and celebrities riding the wave of the swinging sixties. As royal mystique gave way to the age of celebrity, journalists and photographers felt free to drop their deferential attitude to the royal family. When things began to go wrong in Margaret's marriage, it would be subject to the glare of public scrutiny.

Contributors include Lady Anne Glenconner, a childhood friend and lady in waiting; Basil Charles, bar owner on the Caribbean island of Mustique who met the Princess in the 1970s; Christopher Warwick, an authorised biographer; Anne de Courcy, biographer of Lord Snowdon; and Craig Brown, Princess Margaret's most recent unauthorised biographer.

Publicity contact: GJ