This Is How Princess Margaret Paved The Way For Meghan Markle
Long before Meghan Markle became royal, another member of the British Royal Family was always center stage in the media and the tabloids. Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister, Princess Margaret was stunningly beautiful, and she walked that fine line between regal royal and celebrity A-lister. Though Princess Margaret came of age in the 1950s and 1960s –she refused to be confined by stuffy royal traditions and archaic molds of who women should be.
Now, 17 years after the princess’ death, Meghan Markle is walking along the path that Princess Margaret carved out for herself. From a modern marriage to capturing the public’s curiosity –this is how Princess Margaret paved the way for Meghan Markle.
How did Princess Margaret pave the way for Meghan Markle?
For Princess Margaret– life was all about love and fun. Though her sister got lucky with her match to Prince Philip –and her uncle King Edward VII was forced to abdicate the crown because of the public and his family’ disapproval of his wife –American divorcee Wallis Simpson, Princess Margaret never gave up on love. At 17, she fell in love with Peter Townsend — an older married man with kids who was employed by her father. Though the princess and Townsend never married, she was committed to him for some time. When she did marry, the princess wed photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, a bisexual man with quite the reputation.
Though Meghan Markle hardly has those sort of personal scandals in her past, she has been married before. Also, the antics of her outrageous family members have certainly raised some eyebrows. Like Markle did with her first marriage –Princess Margaret chose to leave Armstrong-Jones once things became unbearable –a super radical move for a royal woman at the time.
Like Princess Margaret, people are obsessed with Meghan Markle
From the moment Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their engagement in Nov. 2017 –the former actress has absolutely dominated the media. Luckily, the duchess has not let all of the frenzy and press attention phase her. Decades before her, Princess Margaret dealt with the same type of attention.
In the documentary Margaret: A Rebel Princess it is made clear that the media circus surrounding the princess was continuous throughout her life. Executive producer Chris Granlund told Town & Country, “I think it’s the fact that [Princess Margaret] was able to maintain both the absolute expected image of a royal princess all through her life while also living in the modern age, even as it changed, moving with the times and engaging with a much wider circle of society than any previous royal had, and doing it in a very public way.”
Now that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have split their household from Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton –we’ll see if the duchess is able to maintain an aura of grace and poise as a member of the royal family in the 21st century.
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