"...and then I swing you around there." "Darling!" "A bit smoother, and then very, very close together." "The Duke and Duchess of York, Your Majesty." "I won't see her." "Just my brother." " I gather you've made your decision." " I have." "I'm afraid you won't thank me for it." " Is she really worth it?" " I love her with all my heart." "Of course, but more than your own... country?" "Hmm?" "More than your own family?" "More than your own brother?" "Yes." "You'll be fine." "You have a wife by your side and heirs to spare." "My daughters." "This will... crush them." "If you stand down, I shall want you and that woman gone for good." "Brother has indeed turned against brother." "Pay me to, brother... and I'll be gone forever." "* A sailor went to sea, sea, sea To see what he could see, see, see *" "* But all that he could see, see, see *" "* Was the bottom Of the deep blue sea, sea, sea *" "* A sailor went to me, me, me To see what he could me, me, me *" "Ms. McDonald." "His Majesty has asked to see the two princesses." "Right." "Come along, girls." "Lilibet." "Margaret." "Your uncle has let us all down." "He put love before family." "Now I want you to promise me one thing... that you will never put anyone or anything before one another." "You are sisters above all else." "And must never let one another down." "Understood?" "Never." "Never." " Happy birthday, Margaret." " Thank you." "So, I've done what you all asked and waited two years, but now that I am 25, and free to decide for myself whom I will marry, it is with great pleasure..." "Thank you." "...great pleasure and pride, that I say I am still committed to Peter." "I've kept my side of the bargain." " Now I'm hoping you'll keep yours." " Of course." " Happy birthday!" " Thank you!" " Afternoon, Ma'am." " Yes, thank you, Michael." "One or two bits and pieces." "A request from our neighbor, Captain Farquharson, wanting to lease a few acres of Balmoral grouse land in exchange for the acres which we leased from him last year." "Now, I spoke to the head keeper and he advised checking nest stocks before responding." "Yes, that seems very sensible." "And a card from the Mayor of Easter Ross, whose 70th it is this year." "Yes, he's not been well, has he?" "A stroke, earlier in the year, but he'll mend now, I'm happy to say." "Good." "That's everything from me, Ma'am." "Anything from you?" "Yes." "An instruction to put things in motion, as regards Group Captain Townsend's return to the country." " Ma'am?" " As you know, my sister is now free from the constraints of the Royal Marriages Act and no longer requires my consent to marry." "Yes." "What is it that you're not saying, Michael?" "Well, there is still the other hurdle." "The second part of the Royal Marriages Act." "The fact that Her Royal Highness has turned 25 merely means that she has reached an age where she can give notice of her intention to marry." "Not that she is free to marry." "What?" "Well, if both Houses of Parliament approve, only then, after 12 months have expired, can the marriage take place and any marriage contracted in defiance of these rules would be void." "Why did no one tell me this at the time?" "To which I hope you replied..." ""It's always been there, Ma'am, in black and white."" "Yes, but no one drew my attention to it or said anything." "This is going to be very difficult." "I'm sorry." "I do feel that we've left her in a difficult spot." "The Queen Mother always believed that two years' separation would be long enough for Princess Margaret to lose interest in the Group Captain and the whole thing to go away." "But she hasn't, and it hasn't." "And if anything, the Queen's dilemma at the heart of it all is only more acute." "Either she puts her foot down and forbids the marriage..." "That turns sister against sister and splits the Royal house down the middle." "...or she permits the marriage, setting a collision course with the Church of which she herself is the Head." "Well, let me give it some more thought." "We'll speak in the morning." " Good night, Michael." " Thank you, sir." "Take a worm." " What?" " A worm." "With your fingers, go on." "They won't bite, they're worms, boy!" "That's it!" "Good boy." " It's wriggling." " Of course it's wriggling, it's a worm." "It'll stop wriggling once you put it on the hook." "So, I was thinking about a week on Monday." "What for?" "To make the announcement." "The engagement." "Would you mind holding off?" "Just a moment longer?" "Everything's fine, don't worry." "There's just been a slight wrinkle." "What's a wrinkle?" "Oh, no, a formality, which no one told me about." "It will take a little longer than expected." "Well, how much longer?" "We've waited two years already." " I understand." " And Peter's been through hell." " I know." " Waiting like a martyr." " Locking himself away..." " I know." "...seeing no one." "Speaking to no one." "I've been crying into my pillow at night, counting the days." "Why?" "Why?" "Because we were doing you a favor..." " I'm aware of that!" " To spare you your blushes." "To make your life easier." "I know, and I'm going to take care of it." "Look, I probably shouldn't have said a thing." "We're going to go up in three, OK?" "One, two, three... cast!" "Come on." "Let's try again." "Hold this, please." " I'm trying!" " Yeah, well, try harder." " It's difficult, Daddy." " No, it's not difficult." "Come on." "If you don't try again, you'll never catch a fish." "He dominates that poor boy." "He can be very kind, too." "Watch what I do." "And he's wonderful with Anne." "And here, then back to here, and cast..." "I still think he's too hard on him." "Taking out his own frustrations on an innocent child." "I had lunch with Tommy Lascelles last week and we both agreed that Philip still hasn't settled and struggles with life in your shadow." "Come on, Charles." "Let's do this." "Let's have another go." "Tommy came up with an interesting notion." "Hey, there you go!" " Mummy, I caught one!" " Well done!" "Have you noticed something about our children?" " They're the wrong way round." " What?" "Well, our daughter's a boy and our son is, God bless him, a girl." " Don't be silly." "He's just sensitive." " Have you seen him fish?" "A girl." "What's the matter?" "You seem preoccupied." "I am." "I've got problems with Margaret, and Mummy's been interfering." " Surprise, surprise." " Along with everything else." "Would you hate the idea of going to Australia?" " What for?" " To open the Olympic Games." "The Olympics are in November, aren't they?" "You can't go in November." "Oh, no, I didn't mean with me, I meant alone." "In my name." "Right." "Whose idea was that?" "Does it matter?" " Would you agree to it?" " No, I'd be gone months." " Weeks." " Away from you." "Away from the children." " Yes, but would you do it?" " No." "Oh, please." "Everyone just wants you to be happy." "Nobody gives a fig about my happiness." "Yes, they do." "They want you to be stable and fulfilled." "Everybody wants you happy, stable and fulfilled." "They wish I'd just disappear." "No, they just think you'd benefit from the attention." " And preferably never come back." " No, just come back..." "What?" "What?" "Say it." "Say it." "A different man?" "No, not that." "What, then?" "Say it, pick the adjective." "All right, yes." "Changed." "Princess Margaret, third in line for the throne of Britain, now, 25 and legally in control of her own destiny." "Pressmen and sightseers throng the lanes, undeterred by the official statement that no announcement is contemplated at present about the Princess' future." "Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister, fresh off the plane from Cairo, travels to Scotland to brief the Queen on the latest development with Colonel Nasser..." "Mr. Eden!" "Have you come to discuss Princess Margaret's marriage?" " Margaret!" " Oh, hello." "Where are you going?" "Prime Minister's just arrived." "Taking to my bed." "I intend to remain in sulk for at least a week." " Oh, dear." "Don't tell me, my wife?" " Yes." " Your tie." " Thank you." "It's not easy." "I'm a little fed up with her myself, truth be told." "Why?" "What's she done to you?" "Don't get me started." "Is she making life difficult for you and Peter?" " Yes, she wants to delay the engagement." " Well, it serves you right quite frankly." "You both seem far too happy and far too in love." " Do we?" " Yes." "It's easy to be in love with someone who's not here, isn't it?" "Yes." "Perhaps that's why she's sending me away." "Chin up!" " Thank you." " Thank you." "Would you excuse me?" " The Prime Minister, Your Majesty." " Yes." "I've just been reading about your difficulty with Colonel Nasser." "Have the newspapers exaggerated it terribly?" "To a very significant degree, yes." "Oh, well, you can tell me all about it in the car." "I thought rather than have our audience in the study, we could get some fresh air." "You must be longing for a walk after your journey." "Do you have any outdoor shoes?" "Galoshes, Ma'am." "Well, you might need something sturdier than that." "Come on!" "She's a bit throaty, I'm afraid." "We've been having trouble with the fuel pump." "Tell me about Colonel Nasser." "Well, the trouble started the minute we landed in Cairo." "I got off the plane and made a statement to local reporters, in Arabic." " You speak Arabic?" " Very badly." "I studied it at Oxford." "I am delighted to be here in Cairo to meet with Colonel Nasser... to continue discussions regarding the funding for his grand Aswan Dam project." "His Arabic is good." "Thank you." "Very good." "Too good." "I'm sure the Colonel would have been charmed by that." "On the contrary." "That night, there was a dinner at our Embassy..." " He came in uniform." " Military uniform?" "Yes." "Whatever for?" "One would think the clue would be in the invitation to dinner that one would wear a dinner jacket." "He came as if we'd invited him to battle and promptly behaved like that." "Your Excellency Prime Minister Eden." "Is anything the matter?" "No one told me it was formal dress tonight." "No matter, sir." "It's just a suit." "But the wrong suit." "Sensing his embarrassment and wishing to spare him further blushes," "I tried to make the situation better." "If I was as decorated as you, sir," "I would wear my uniform all the time." "Wouldn't take it off." "You think I don't know?" "That you received the Military Cross for bravery in the First World War, and were the youngest brigade-major in the British Army, at 21." "You are more decorated than me..." "Captain Eden." "That night, the Voice of Egypt radio station in Cairo claimed that Nasser had been deliberately humiliated by the Imperious British." "Oh, dear." "It might be worth extending the hand of goodwill." "Indeed we are, Ma'am." "We're bending over backwards to help him fund this dam project." "Things here could do with a little settling, too." "My sister's engagement." "This was their favorite place." "They would ride out here together." "And put a single stone down for each time they met." "I thought this would be the perfect spot for us to discuss the matter." "You see, I gave my sister my assurance that if she waited until the age of 25, she could do as she likes." "Now I discover that's not true, and that she still needs to wait a year to get permission from Parliament." "Which is not the advice that I originally received." "Yes." "And I'm afraid to say that, even if she were to ask that permission," "I cannot guarantee that she would get it." "Why?" "Because a good many remain opposed to the idea on religious grounds." "Then advise me." "Group Captain Townsend will be leaving Brussels and returning home shortly, having done exactly what we asked him to do." "How can I keep my word after I gave it knowing only half the facts?" "Let me take the temperature of the Cabinet." "We must not forget that times are changing." "Morality is changing." "The country is changing." "So, it was your idea, was it?" "Dispatching me to the penal colonies?" "If you mean entrusting you to go to Melbourne to open the Olympic Games alone, actually it was Tommy Lascelles." "Oh, your puppet." "I might have guessed." " And you ought to be flattered." " To be trusted to cut a ribbon?" " To be given that level of freedom." " What freedom?" "I have no freedom." "You have more freedom than any consort in history." "And you repay it by scowling and skulking like an adolescent." "So go." "Have some time in the spotlight, be the main attraction, and enjoy the attention." "Hopefully it will do you some good." "You might finally be less resentful and more supportive of my daughter in her duty." " When's the wedding day, sir?" " Are you going to make an announcement?" "Anything you'd like to share, Mr. Townsend?" "Mr. Townsend!" "Captain Townsend!" "When's the wedding day?" " Prime Minister." " Michael." "Sir." "I discussed the matter this morning with the Attorney General and he advised that there was no easy way around the governing rules of the Royal Marriages Act." "Furthermore... several senior members of Cabinet remain violently opposed." "Indeed, Lord Salisbury has made it clear that he would resign from Government, rather than submit to what he considers a subversion of the Church's teachings... the Holy Sacrament of Marriage and the decay of moral standards." " But I realize this doesn't help you." " No." "So if it is..." "Your Majesty's intention to support your sister, come what may?" "It is." "Then the best I can offer is to... place a Bill of Renunciation before Parliament." "It would deprive her of all her rights, privileges and income." "She would have to be married in a civil ceremony abroad." "And be obliged to live out of the country for several years." "But you will have kept your word." "And she will have prevailed and will be Mrs. Peter Townsend." "Of course." "That's the strategy." "What strategy?" "To force me into that choice and bank on the fact that I would never do it." ""Oh, smart set Margaret." "Good time Margaret."" ""She could never survive without the trimmings?" I could." "I could live perfectly happily without the staff, without the car, without the parties, without the attention." "Without the money." "Effortlessly." "I am more than my title, than these privileges." "Peter wouldn't want it anyway." "So if that's what's on offer," "I'll give up my title and we'll leave the country." "It's not what I want for you." "So please think about it." "I mean really, really think about it." "Fine." "And while I'm thinking about it, perhaps you could think about this." "I have a country that is for me." "Newspapers that sympathize with me." "I represent what a growing majority want." "The future, not the past." "A kinder, more tolerant attitude to marriage and divorce." "That's not me." "Fine." "Then a government in your name." "Slow down here." "They tried to bribe my butler." "A hundred pounds!" "Can you imagine?" " For a photograph of the two of you." " It's all rather too much, isn't it?" "The house is under siege." "And you're the cause of it all, old boy." "Not bad, sweeping up the most eligible woman in the world." " Shall we?" " Yes." " Peter?" " No, you dance, darling." "I'll go to bed." " You're sure?" " I'm quite sure." " Hello." " Hello." " Everyone is still dancing." " Then why are you here?" "To tell you that I love you." "Thank you." " And that they're just children." " I know." " And I'm mad for you." " Me too." "Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret and wartime fighter ace Group Captain Townsend were important weekend visitors at Allenby Park near Windsor." "Pressmen and sightseers hoping for a glimpse of the couple were undeterred by the official statements that no announcement is expected." "But whatever the answer to the question that millions are asking, no one can doubt the warmth and sympathy countless ordinary people have for the Queen's sister and the former equerry to Her Majesty." "Since our last meeting, I've been thinking a great deal about something that my father said to Princess Margaret and myself at the time of the abdication." "He made us swear, as sisters, never to put anything or anyone before one another, in the way that he felt his brother had." "It's an oath that we both made and that... we intend to keep." "But I can't see how I'm to honor it." "It is my duty as Queen to refuse Margaret marriage to a divorced man." "Everyone advises me so." "And yet I will be breaking a promise, not only to my sister... but also to my late father." "And the one body of people who might make it possible for me to keep my promise... is Cabinet." "A group whom I've learned count no fewer than four divorced men in their number." " Yes." " Yourself included, Prime Minister." "Indeed." "Now, I wonder, in light of this, whether you might go back and use your considerable influence and ask your Cabinet colleagues if they might reconsider their decision to oppose the marriage." "Certainly, Ma'am." "Although, I feel I should warn you that there still will be the Church." "Yes, well, I'll see to that." "The Archbishops of Canterbury, and York." "The Bishop of Durham, and is that Winchester?" "Bath and Wells, Ma'am." " The big guns." " The four horsemen of the apocalypse." "Marriage is a sacrament of God." "The cornerstone of our Christian family life." "Its foundation and its rock." "And according to the Canon law of the Church of England... indissoluble." "Put simply, there are no circumstances where the Church might permit the remarriage of divorced persons while the husband or wife of the former marriage is still alive." "Even if he was the innocent party?" "No circumstances at all." "That makes my position very difficult." "To forbid the marriage would risk breaking up my family." "Your Majesty, as Queen... you are Fidei defensor... defender of the faith." "That was the oath you made at the coronation." "I married the man of my choice." "I'd like to think she could do the same." "Well, the way I look at it, if she really likes the fella..." "Time to concede, it would seem." " Give the people what they want." " Do they really know what they want?" "Quite frankly, the world today isn't what it was a few years ago, and he was not the guilty party..." "I think they're making it very clear." "Well, the Archbishops just made themselves clear, too." "You don't need to listen to them, surely?" "As Head of the Church of England, I thought I might." "Oh." "Well, in the name of the people that live with you and love you, might I suggest not being Head of the Church for a minute." "Or Head of State, or Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, or the Army, or the Navy, or the Government, or the Fount of Justice, or the whole damn circus, frankly." " And be what?" " A living, breathing thing, a woman." "A sister." "A daughter." "A wife." "All ready for you, Your Majesty." "Elizabeth..." "I've been hoping to hear from you." "I've found myself hovering by the phone for days." " Is it about Margaret?" " Yes." "The French are very much for her." "At least Paris is, which is the only France that matters." "And are you for her, too?" "For Margaret, 'la Marianne,' how can I not be?" "I share with her the fate of having a great love that captured much of the country's imagination, only to have it forbidden by the establishment." "So, naturally, my sympathy is with her." "I see." "But there is also the other great love of my life... the Crown." "And protecting that crown." "And I imagine you find yourself in a difficult position now." "Split down the middle." "One half is sister." "One half is Queen." "Exactly." "A strange, hybrid creature." "Like a sphinx or Gamayun." "As I am Ganesha or Minotaur." "We are half-people." "Ripped from the pages of some bizarre mythology, the two sides within us, human and crown engaged in a fearful civil war, which never ends." "And which blights our every human transaction as... as brother, husband... sister, wife, mother." "I understand the agony you feel and I am here to tell you, it will never leave you." "I will always be half-King." "My tragedy is that..." "I have no Kingdom." "You have it." "And you must protect it." "Her Royal Highness, Princess Margaret." "I've asked you here... to say that I've given the matter thought." "A great deal of thought." "The issue of your marriage has, for the past weeks, months, gone to the very heart of a great number of things." "The country, morality, divorce." "But also something closer to home." "Who I am." "What I am." "And your marriage to Peter..." " Wait, I..." " No, please, Margaret." "It doesn't come naturally for me to speak like this, so please let me finish." "It's involved going against members of our family, against senior courtiers, against Cabinet." "You know how I hate confrontation, or mess, or dereliction of duty." "But..." "I was prepared to go through it all and support you, as a sister." "Because I'd given you my word." "But..." "But?" "But what?" "But I realized... as Queen... that I have no choice." "I cannot allow you to marry Peter and remain part of this family." "That is my decision." "In defiance of the pledge you made to our father?" "And the pledge you gave to me." "Yes." "Will you forgive me?" " If you deny me the man I love?" " If I put duty before family." "Would you forgive anyone who denied you Philip?" " It doesn't compare." " It compares exactly." "In marrying Philip, I wasn't violating the scriptures or offending the Church." "I'm so sorry." " You will love others." " No." "Never." "Peter is the only one." "I understand that it feels like that now, but Margaret..." "I know I appear strong, but I'm not." "Peter is the only one who knows how to... calm me, to reassure me, protect me." "Don't tell me you understand that." "You don't know for a minute what it is to be... unhinged." "Be flailing about." "Well, Peter is the only one... who can hold me together." "Without him..." "I'm lost." "I will never forgive her." "And I will never marry anyone else." "Ever." "You're the only one." "I would like it to be known that, Her Royal Highness, the Princess Margaret and I... have decided not to marry." "Mindful of the Church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble... and accepting my position as a divorced man... and knowing how deeply religious faith and commitment to the Church runs within the Princess... we have resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice" "and break off our relationship with immediate effect." "Her Royal Highness, the Princess Margaret and I are strengthened by the unfailing support of the Royal Family, whom it has been my honor and my privilege to serve for these last ten years." "I will now return to Brussels to continue my important work as air attaché." "Mr. Townsend, would you like to make a comment?" "The 19 days between Peter Townsend's return to London and the Princess' decision were a period of mounting suspense." "Now she has put her Royal duty first." "Outside Clarence House, the day after the announcement, people hoped to see and encourage her." "The hearts of all Britain and the Commonwealth are with the young Princess, who has chosen not self, but country." "The Group Captain flies back to Brussels, the end of a story of love and duty." "With duty prevailing." "Apparently, the Prime Minister called Nasser in an attempt to defuse the situation, but it seems the Egyptian leader took offence again." "Why this time?" "Because the PM refused to speak a word of Arabic, insisting on speaking English." "What's the matter with that?" "Aha." "Well, it seems Nasser hadn't arranged for a translator to be present, which left him exposed since he doesn't speak sufficiently good English." "He felt tricked and humiliated and has taken the whole thing as a terrible affront." "There is some personal history between the two men, I believe." "Oh, dear." "Well, I do hope it all calms down." " I'm off." " Where are you going?" "We are ready for Her Majesty." "To meet the president of the Olympic Committee, as instructed." "They now suggest I combine opening the games with a Royal Tour, stay away even longer, five months." "A long way to go." "A long time for a father to be away from his children." "But no, if it gives me time to reflect and work out my priorities and to settle, not just in the marriage, but you know, generally, it'll be worth it." "Don't be like that." "Everyone's just trying to help." "Oh, yes, by putting a problem on a boat to Australia and hoping it sorts itself out or better still, sinks." "You know it is possible that you might enjoy it, and thank me." "Don't dress betrayal up as a favor." "Better go." "Can't stand around chatting." " Your Majesty!" " Will you be back late?" "I'll be right with you, Cecil." " Good afternoon." " Thank you, Your Majesty." "Britain and the West despise Arabs." "Prime Minister Eden thinks he can insult us." "You can leave now, thank you." "We will fight to the last drop of our blood." "Try standing up, Ma'am." "That's it, there." "All hail sage Lady, whom a grateful Isle hath blessed." "Not moving, not breathing." "Our very own goddess." "Glorious Gloriana." "Forgetting Elizabeth Windsor now." "Now only Elizabeth Regina." "Yes."