Princess Margaret; Prince Harry.Photo: Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesWhilePrincess Margaretgave up her romantic relationship for the Crown, her great-nephewPrince Harryleft royal life to be with the woman he loves.Both Princess Margaret andPrince Harryfaced friction in choosing romantic partners who didn’t fit the royal family mold.Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister found love with the divorced Peter Townsend, while the Queen’s grandson fell for American actressMeghan Markle, who would become the first person of color in the modern royal family. However, the two had very different outcomes.Margaret needed the Parliament’s approval ahead of her marriage to Townsend, and shecalled off the engagementwhen they made it clear they would not offer her consent. Meanwhile,Prince Harrymarried Meghan in May 2018, and in 2020, they stepped down as working royals and relocated to California.“Margaret put duty before herself,” royal biographer Andrew Morton, who just released his new book,Elizabeth & Margaret: the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, tells PEOPLE.“The wheel turns, 70 years later, and we have another couple having to make a decision: Do they put duty first or their own ambitions and desires first? And they put their own ambitions and desires first. That is the change we have witnessed during the Queen’s reign.“Princess Margaret ‘Understood the Queen in a Way No One Else Could’: Inside Their Complex BondMeghan Markle and Prince Harry.Karwai Tang/WireImagePeter Townsend and Princess Margaret.Ullstein bild via GettyGet the premiere issue of PEOPLERoyalsfor glamorous new photos and inside stories royals fans haven’t seen or read elsewhere! Subscribe atpeopleroyals.com/launchMorton also points out the similarities betweenPrince Harry’s relationship with older brotherPrince Williamwith Princess Margaret’s bond with older sisterQueen Elizabeth.“In both cases you have one sibling who pushes boundaries, while the other is more serious, more cautious,” he says.Prince William and Prince Harry.Jack Taylor/Getty ImagesPrincess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth in 1996.Richard Gillard/Camera Press/ReduxIn both cases, the royal “pecking order,” as Morton puts it, inevitably impacts the sibling dynamic.Can’t get enough ofPEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!“At one point, William and Harry were both part of the main branch of monarchy,” says the author. “Then William marries and has children, and his children take precedence. Whereas Harry is an ancillary branch in exactly the same way as Margaret.”
Princess Margaret; Prince Harry.Photo: Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty Images
WhilePrincess Margaretgave up her romantic relationship for the Crown, her great-nephewPrince Harryleft royal life to be with the woman he loves.Both Princess Margaret andPrince Harryfaced friction in choosing romantic partners who didn’t fit the royal family mold.Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister found love with the divorced Peter Townsend, while the Queen’s grandson fell for American actressMeghan Markle, who would become the first person of color in the modern royal family. However, the two had very different outcomes.Margaret needed the Parliament’s approval ahead of her marriage to Townsend, and shecalled off the engagementwhen they made it clear they would not offer her consent. Meanwhile,Prince Harrymarried Meghan in May 2018, and in 2020, they stepped down as working royals and relocated to California.“Margaret put duty before herself,” royal biographer Andrew Morton, who just released his new book,Elizabeth & Margaret: the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, tells PEOPLE.“The wheel turns, 70 years later, and we have another couple having to make a decision: Do they put duty first or their own ambitions and desires first? And they put their own ambitions and desires first. That is the change we have witnessed during the Queen’s reign.“Princess Margaret ‘Understood the Queen in a Way No One Else Could’: Inside Their Complex BondMeghan Markle and Prince Harry.Karwai Tang/WireImagePeter Townsend and Princess Margaret.Ullstein bild via GettyGet the premiere issue of PEOPLERoyalsfor glamorous new photos and inside stories royals fans haven’t seen or read elsewhere! Subscribe atpeopleroyals.com/launchMorton also points out the similarities betweenPrince Harry’s relationship with older brotherPrince Williamwith Princess Margaret’s bond with older sisterQueen Elizabeth.“In both cases you have one sibling who pushes boundaries, while the other is more serious, more cautious,” he says.Prince William and Prince Harry.Jack Taylor/Getty ImagesPrincess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth in 1996.Richard Gillard/Camera Press/ReduxIn both cases, the royal “pecking order,” as Morton puts it, inevitably impacts the sibling dynamic.Can’t get enough ofPEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!“At one point, William and Harry were both part of the main branch of monarchy,” says the author. “Then William marries and has children, and his children take precedence. Whereas Harry is an ancillary branch in exactly the same way as Margaret.”
WhilePrincess Margaretgave up her romantic relationship for the Crown, her great-nephewPrince Harryleft royal life to be with the woman he loves.
Both Princess Margaret andPrince Harryfaced friction in choosing romantic partners who didn’t fit the royal family mold.Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister found love with the divorced Peter Townsend, while the Queen’s grandson fell for American actressMeghan Markle, who would become the first person of color in the modern royal family. However, the two had very different outcomes.
Margaret needed the Parliament’s approval ahead of her marriage to Townsend, and shecalled off the engagementwhen they made it clear they would not offer her consent. Meanwhile,Prince Harrymarried Meghan in May 2018, and in 2020, they stepped down as working royals and relocated to California.
“Margaret put duty before herself,” royal biographer Andrew Morton, who just released his new book,Elizabeth & Margaret: the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, tells PEOPLE.“The wheel turns, 70 years later, and we have another couple having to make a decision: Do they put duty first or their own ambitions and desires first? And they put their own ambitions and desires first. That is the change we have witnessed during the Queen’s reign.”
Princess Margaret ‘Understood the Queen in a Way No One Else Could’: Inside Their Complex Bond
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.Karwai Tang/WireImage
Peter Townsend and Princess Margaret.Ullstein bild via Getty
Get the premiere issue of PEOPLERoyalsfor glamorous new photos and inside stories royals fans haven’t seen or read elsewhere! Subscribe atpeopleroyals.com/launch
Morton also points out the similarities betweenPrince Harry’s relationship with older brotherPrince Williamwith Princess Margaret’s bond with older sisterQueen Elizabeth.
“In both cases you have one sibling who pushes boundaries, while the other is more serious, more cautious,” he says.
Prince William and Prince Harry.Jack Taylor/Getty Images
Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth in 1996.Richard Gillard/Camera Press/Redux
In both cases, the royal “pecking order,” as Morton puts it, inevitably impacts the sibling dynamic.
Can’t get enough ofPEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
“At one point, William and Harry were both part of the main branch of monarchy,” says the author. “Then William marries and has children, and his children take precedence. Whereas Harry is an ancillary branch in exactly the same way as Margaret.”
source: people.com
