Princess Margaret suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome allegedly brought on by the Queen Mother drinking during her pregnancy, a new book has claimed.
Meryle Secrest, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated biographer based in Washington D.C, has speculated in her upcoming unofficial biography that Margaret suffered from an ‘invisible disability’ caused by foetal alcohol syndrome.
The author, 95, claimed to have re-analysed the royal’s personality and struggles she went through during her lifetime and found similarities between these and the condition.
Foetal alcohol syndrome is caused when a baby growing inside the womb is exposed to alcohol during pregnancy, which can cause the child to develop distinctive facial features, along with learning difficulties and issues with controlling emotions and impulses.
The book, titled Princess Margaret and the Curse, states that the late Queen’s sister, who died in 2002 aged 71 after suffering a series of strokes, displayed characteristics of the syndrome, including having stunted growth, mood swings, painful migraines and difficulties learning to write.
However, the Princess did not have the physical attributes linked to foetal alcohol syndrome, such as smooth lip philtrum and small eyes.
During the day, the Queen Mother would drink gin and Dubonnet, which is two parts pink vermouth to one part gin, and also wine and port, according to an account from a former equerry, Major Colin Burgess.
She would sip on these until 6pm, dubbed ‘magic hour’, where martinis would be prepared for the royal household.
During the day, the Queen Mother would drink gin and Dubonnet, which is two parts pink vermouth to one part gin, and also wine and port, according to an account from a former equerry
Margaret – known for her playful and rebellious nature – was also known for ‘blurting out the truth’, which is thought to be common among those with foetal alcohol syndrome
Major Colin Burgess revealed to the Daily Mail in 2017 what working with the Queen Mother was really like.
‘She was far from being an alcoholic. But she loved social drinking,’ he said.
‘What was memorable was her fondness for red wine, particularly heavy clarets, which she loved. We must have got through a bottle- and-a-half at that first meeting.
‘At noon, she had her first drink of the day — a potent mix of two parts of the fortified wine Dubonnet to one part of gin.
‘This was followed by red wine with lunch and, very occasionally, a glass of port to end it. Later came the ritual observed at 6pm, deemed the earliest acceptable time for an evening drink.
‘”Colin, are we at the magic hour?” the Queen Mother would invariably ask, and I’d mix her a Martini. After a couple of these, she would sit down to dinner and drink one or two glasses of pink champagne.’
The Telegraph reports the Queen Mother likely would not have been advised against alcohol during her pregnancy with Margaret as foetal alcohol syndrome was still not fully understood by medics until the 1970s.
Secrest’s book cited the Queen Mother’s letters at the time of her pregnancy with Queen Elizabeth, in which she wrote that even the sight of wine made her feel ill, suggesting she drank a lot less while carrying the heir.
Secrest’s book cited the Queen Mother’s letters at the time of her pregnancy with Queen Elizabeth, in which she wrote that even the sight of wine made her feel ill, suggesting she drank a lot less while carrying the heir. Pictured L-R: Elizabeth and Margaret
A 1925 letter to her husband, the future King George VI, said: ‘The sight of wine simply turns me up! Isn’t it extraordinary! It will be a tragedy if I never recover my drinking powers.’
Secrest’s upcoming book does not claim that the Queen Mother suffered from any condition.
It also states that Princess Margaret’s family and her nurses described her as ‘naughty’ and ‘mischievous and provocative’.
It also details one instance where she sank a boat during a rowing lesson by removing the plug in the hull.
Margaret – known for her playful and rebellious nature – would also ‘blurt out the truth’, which is thought to be common among those with foetal alcohol syndrome.
At 5ft 1in, the Princess was one of the shortest in the family, with the book stating that stunted growth is another indicator of the condition.
It is also claimed that Margaret had poor awareness of physical danger, another marker of the syndrome, using the example of when she was unaware she had set her hair on fire.
The book also states that Princess Margaret’s family and her nurses described her as ‘naughty’ and ‘mischievous and provocative’
At 5ft 1in, the Princess was one of the shortest in the family, with the book stating that stunted growth is another indicator of the condition
Pictured L-R: Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, King George and Margaret at Royal Lodge in Windsor
Major Colin Burgess also wrote about the incident in the Daily Mail in 2017 and said it happened at during Christmas at Sandringham.
‘During a meal there, Margaret leant forward to get something and her hair touched a candle,’ he wrote.
‘Within seconds the back of her head was blazing away, but her tresses were sufficiently thick that she knew nothing about it until the Queen spotted what was happening.’
‘As a quick-thinking member of staff patted it out with his hands, Margaret looked at him in horror as if to say: “What the hell do you think you are doing, do you know who I am?”
‘The Queen’s reaction to her sister catching fire was typical of her, as I was privileged to see at first hand.’
Her marriage to Lord Snowdon also ended in divorce in 1978 after both partners had extra-marital affairs.
The book cites the work of Dr Kenneth Jones, a leading expert in foetal alcohol syndrome, who first properly identified the issue in 1973, 43 years after Margaret was born.
However, there is no evidence that Margaret suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome, as the biography compares her life with those who have suffered from the condition.