Why Princess Margaret 'called herself a bad-tempered old devil’ after ‘tearful’ moment
The princess would have been 95 years old today
As we celebrate Princess Margaret’s birthday today, many stories are resurfacing about the glamorous royal, including some emotional insights into her supposed true personality and her alleged bad temper.
Reportedly, the late princess was pretty impatient with her staff. She was even said to have “raged” at her servants.
Claims over Princess Margaret’s ‘bad temper’
A slew of rumours have been circulating about what it is really like to work for the royals in recent months.
A Channel 5 documentary earlier this year and Tom Quinn’s latest book, Yes, Ma’am: The Secret Life Of Royal Servants, has exposed some gossip from within the palace.
Even Princess Diana’s long time butler Paul Burrell has chimed in.
According to the Daily Mail, he highlighted Princess Margaret’s strict expectations when it came to her servants.
He even claimed that when the party-loving royal returned to Kensington Palace, she’d “touch the TV”.
She apparently did so to “test” it for “warmth” to check if her staff had been watching it instead of working.
If it had been on, Margaret was said to have flown into a rage. The princess was also said to have “berated” her staff if they moved any of her personal belongings out of place.
The outlet also quotes author Anne de Courcy, who made some claims about Margaret’s attitude to her staff.
Apparently, she treated “those who looked after her inconsiderately”.
The royal was said to have made “maddening demands” that often resulted in “endless” amounts of “extra work,” for her employees.
Claims about how Princess Margaret ‘raged’ at her staff
And unfortunately for the royal family, the claims don’t end there.
A former Kensington Palace maid, who reportedly worked there in the fifties, shared her alleged experience with author Tom Quinn.
The maid alleged “that she was told not to look at Margaret or to speak to her unless spoken to”.
She also claimed that she was told that “if she met the princess in a corridor, she was told to move aside and look down”.
However, she also claimed that the princess gave her an apology once upon a time.
‘She had been hurt’
“She bit my head off once. I can’t remember why, but I had muddled something,” the former palace staff member reportedly claimed. “Anyway, I was very young at the time and felt instantly tearful. She must have noticed because she said: ‘Take no notice of me. I’m just a bad-tempered old devil who can’t help it.’ I’ve never forgotten that because it was the only time I saw her more vulnerable side.”
The former palace worker also shed light on why they thought Margaret could be so “hurtful”.
They reportedly said: “She didn’t care because she had, I think, a slightly sadistic streak or maybe wanted to hurt people because she had been hurt.”
Princess Margaret’s ‘temper’ was worse during ‘marriage struggles’
Princess Margaret was said to also “shoo” her servants off when she was arguing with her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones.
Tom Quinn also explained that the princess sometimes had a softer side.
He noted that she gave one palace servant two weeks off work while she was going through a divorce.
She also apparently told the employee that if two weeks off wasn’t enough, she could “take more”.
Quinn also acknowledged that when Margaret “got angry” it was usually because she was angry with her life or experiencing difficulties within her marriage, which eventually broke down.
Royal Insider has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment on this story.
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