Princess Margaret's former lady-in-waiting has revealed why she has decided to write about her former employer in a new book. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show about her memoir Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown, Lady Anne Glenconner explains why she has revealed stories about her life with the Queen's younger sister: "I was so fed up with people writing such horrible things about her."
Talking about writing about her colourful life, she says, "Reliving it all was like going to a psychiatrist," before adding, "I am 87 now and I’ve never had such a good time!"
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Lady Anne Glenconner on The Graham Norton Show
Lady Anne has known the royal family since childhood and was one of the Queen's maids of honour at her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947. She was appointed Princess Margaret's lady-in-waiting in 1971 and worked with her for more than three decades.
The eldest daughter of the fifth Earl of Leicester, she married Lord Glenconner (formerly Colin Tennant) in 1956, who famously purchased the Caribbean island of Mustique two years later. Lady Anne writes in her book that her husband "bought it for £45,000 — without even having set foot on it," and they transformed the land into a paradise playground for the rich and famous.
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Princess Margaret with Lord and Lady Glenconner in Mustique in 1977
Princess Margaret met her future husband, Antony Armstong-Jones, who was hired to take photos at Lady Anne and Lord Glenconner's wedding. After their marriage in 1960, Lord Glenconner gifted Margaret with a plot of land on Mustique, where she had a five-bedroom villa built, christened Les Jolies Eaux (Beautiful Waters). After the royal couple's marriage turned turbulent, Mustique became Margaret's refuge and was her sanctuary away from a life in the limelight.
Lady Anne continued to work with Princess Margaret until her death in 2002, at the age of 71. Lord Glenconner eventually sold his interest in Mustique after financial difficulties in the 1970s and went into exile in St Lucia. He died on 27 August 2010 aged 83.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 8 November 10.40pm.
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