Oh Princess Margaret. You and your whimsical bathtime habits.
Actually, I really love this photo of Princess Margaret. The tiara was one she wore to appear taller - the effect is somewhat lost while in the bath, but she was really really short. Like REALLY short. About 5ft I believe. She and Mr Wladyslaw 'Elbow-High' would probably have seen eye to eye.
She was also something of a showpony throughout her life. As the younger sister to the Queen, who was always busy being sensible and dutiful, PM didn't really have that much to do with herself. So instead she went clubbing, drank gallons of Famous Grouse and hijacked pianos at parties, playing and singing until everyone was thoroughly sick of her. And of course, she was infamously denied the chance to marry the man she loved, which lead to a disastrous marriage on the rebound with Tony Armstrong-Jones and a slow, public descent into tragic spinsterhood as she aged.
The general view of PM is that of a life wasted, a famous beauty who could have excelled on the stage or in a career but who was overshadowed by her family and relegated to a dusty corner of British history. Which is all perfectly true. She did however illuminate the Royal Family for a while, she was the first bonafide twentieth-century celebrity they'd ever had and had real star power, the absolute top of the 'A' listers in post-war Britain. Bottom line was she was always far more interesting than all of them put together precisely because she was so messed up.
And one thing's for certain - her sister would never pose for a photo in the bath.
