Elizabeth and Margaret: Love and Loyalty (2020)
The relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret is more complex than it’s given credit for, and Elizabeth and Margaret: Love and Loyalty presents it beautifully while busting a few myths. Even though the film covers the lives of both sisters, Margaret seems to get the lion’s share of the story, probably because the details of her life are less well-known than Elizabeth’s.
Despite being four years apart, the girls were raised together and educated together, and for all intents and purposes their childhoods were relatively normal until King Edward VII decided to abdicate and marry Wallis Simpson. Suddenly Dad wasn’t around as much, which was strange in a family that was unusually hands-on as far as parenting went.
There were other changes, too. Elizabeth was given a meatier education while Margaret got the basic finishing school subjects. All of a sudden, instead of being equals, Margaret was in the background while Elizabeth was out in front. At their father’s coronation, Margaret rather sourly noted that Elizabeth’s train was slightly longer than hers.
When Elizabeth and Phillip started dating, Margaret found herself in the role of escort, because it wasn’t proper for a crown royal to go out on the town without a chaperone. From all accounts, everyone had a blast, but it was always clear that Elizabeth and Philip were together.
Margaret made her own name for herself, however, as she was a born performer who was drawn to unconventional men such as the divorced Peter Townsend and the fellow who would become her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones (later made the first Earl of Snowden), but order doesn’t come out of chaos, and both relationships were doomed to fail. There were other men who were good for Margaret for periods of time, but all roads led back to Elizabeth and Margaret’s duty to the crown, and in the end that was the most important.
Love and Loyalty is a mixture of archival footage and audio of both sisters, with the bulk of the interviews provided by those who knew them well, such as palace staff and royal historians, who have observed Margaret and Elizabeth in plenty of unguarded moments. Elizabeth might have had a reputation for stiff formality and Margaret was painted as a chain-smoking party girl by the press, but they were often seen laughing together at parties and discreetly imitating the various guests they had to dance with. More than anything, their relationship was marked by concern for each other and enjoyment of each other’s company.
It was by no means perfect, though, as Elizabeth didn’t approve of Margaret continually partying on her island estate in Mustique after separating and divorcing from Snowden. The breakup of Charles and Diana was obviously a big deal as well, because Margaret and Diana were as thick as thieves until Diana’s marriage began to fail (Diana even turned Margaret on to jacuzzi tubs).
Love and Loyalty, while pretty candid, is also pretty discreet and leaves out a lot of the smaller details of both Margaret and Elizabeth’s lives, but on the other hand, one documentary can’t hold everything. In its favor, it doesn’t whitewash anything, either. We’re given just enough to get to know the sisters a little bit, and it’s all fascinating.
Elizabeth and Margaret: Love and Loyalty is currently streaming on Netflix. Rated TV-PG.
My grade: A
Principal cast: Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Christopher Warwick, Kate Williams, Ingrid Seward, Ed Owens, Onyeka Nubia, Giles Pegram, Kate Fleetwood (narrator)
Directed by Lucy Swingler and Stephanie Wessell