Queen feared to have faced lifetime of 'loneliness' following tragic royal death

19 September 2023 , 12:54

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Queen feared to have faced lifetime of 'loneliness' following tragic royal death

Queen Elizabeth II would face years of "loneliness" after the after "cataclysmic" death of her "devoted" sister, it was feared.

The bereavement of her younger sister, Princess Margaret, hit the monarch hard as were known to share an understanding of the importance of Her Majesty's role for the country, experts said. Princess Margaret had been a "constant companion" the Queen could rely on at all times.

But when she died, aged 71 in February 2002, having suffered her fourth stroke, the Queen had to adapt to having no one fully understanding the expectations of her role. Experts say she did this admirably for years, until her own passing on September 8, 2022, at Balmoral Castle.

Queen Elizabeth ll (left) and her sister Princess Margaret attend the Epsom Derby on June 06, 1979 (Getty Images)

Speaking on a Channel 5 documentary "Elizabeth: Our Queen", biographer Hugo Vickers said: "She was the companion of her childhood and she was younger than the Queen. They did talk a lot, more or less every day, and she was a very, very constant presence in her life."

Narrator James D'Arcy noted the Her Majesty and Margaret had seen their bond strengthened by the sudden death of their father, King George VI, in 1952. Mr D'Arcy said: "Princess Margaret had always been the Queen's glamorous and mischievous sister and they were devoted to each other. Growing up, the Queen's family had been a tight-knit unit, they called themselves 'us four.' After the death of their father, the two sisters became even closer."

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Historian Dr Kate Williams said Margaret's death shortly before the Queen's Golden Jubilee had been "cataclysmic" for Her Majesty as she considered the sacrifices her younger sister had made throughout her life to support her and the Crown. Dr Williams said: "The loss of Margaret was really cataclysmic to the Queen. It was very, very painful. The Queen did see that Margaret's health had been put under strain by what had been denied to her emotionally. Margaret didn't choose to sacrifice all for the Crown because she loved the Crown above all."

Princess Margaret, pictured wearing a necklace and a summer dress, is snapped watching the ladies' singles final at Wimbledon in 1969 (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

She added: "She chose it because she loved her sister above all. She wasn't sacrificing for the Crown, she was sacrificing for her sister." Historian Dr Ed Owens had previously suggested Margaret's death had had Her Majesty confront the "loneliness" of her position as one of the few people fully capable of understanding the pressure of the role passed away.

Speaking to Channel 5, Dr Owens said: "It's a very lonely place being sat atop a throne. And to have a companion, to have a confidante who you can confide in and to whom you can tell secrets too, and who shares in that life too was extremely important to both women.

"When we look back at the princesses' lives together, we could say that Margaret did end up sacrificing quite a lot. In some cases, she had given up something that she had wanted to maintain the strength of her sister's reign."

Aurora Bosotti