The following article contains references to drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and suicide.
Born in 1930, Margaret was from a traditional generation of royals that prioritized duty over all else.
As royal expert A.N.
However, even in private, royals enforced protocol.
Apparently, in Harry’s earlier years, he felt intimidated by his great-aunt’s more intense presence.
She could kill a houseplant with one scowl."
On the occasions that the pair did interact, Harry claimed that he wondered what Margaret thought of him.
“It seemed that she didn’t [have any opinion of me].
Despite Harry’s feelings at the time, royal expert Gareth Russel believes that Margaret liked Harry just fine.
“I didn’t know Princess Margaret, whom I called Aunt Margo.
… She was almost a total stranger,” the prince wrote.
Per the prince’s recollections, Margaret gave him a decorated ballpoint pen one Christmas.
She apparently told him, “I do hope you like it.”
It had a tiny rubber fish wrapped around it.”
While he responded to the present, telling his great-aunt, “Oh.
OK,'” he revealed that he said to himself, “That is cold-blooded.”
Apparently, she was very careful about choosing something unique for each person.
Even so, she often missed the mark.
Sometimes we’d be given handbags that had clearly been worn by her."
Nevertheless, Margaret felt especially sympathetic toward her nephew following the tragic events.
Apparently, that wasn’t the only reason Margaret felt bad for Harry.
“She had no sympathy for the public’s mood,” Russell wrote of Margaret.
“She told a friend that the reaction was unhinged, ‘rather like Diana herself.'”
Instead, she would apparently call her “the girl who married my nephew.”
Despite all the bad blood flowing between the two princesses, they were actually quite alike.
The prince continued, writing, “Both rebels, both labeled as sirens.”
Indeed, both Margaret and Diana deviated from their expected roles by pursuing extramarital affairs.
During her ill-fated marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, Margaret went out with winemaker Anthony Barton.
Similarly, Diana had lovers of her own, including an intense relationship with military officer James Hewitt.
Ultimately, both Diana and Margaret ended their respective marriages, breaking protocol and becoming divorced princesses.
The press reacted explosively to the resulting scandals.
Harry wrote that certain elements of Margaret’s story remind him of his own.
The simmering rivalry, the intense competition, it all looked familiar."
Indeed, not unlike Harry, Margaret was said to lament certain aspects of being the second-born princess.
For one thing, she apparently struggled with the discrepancies betweenQueen Elizabeth’s educationand her own.
For another, she detested the way that the press treated her as Elizabeth’s unruly younger sister.
In “Spare,” Harry echoed these sentiments, bemoaning his role as the younger prince.
“I was summoned to provide backup, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part.
Speck of bone marrow.
Just like his great-aunt, Harry has been known to rub shoulders with celebrities.
The prince is even rumored to receivedrunk textsfrom Cara Delevinge.
With Hollywood-style parties, however, comes a massive culture of excessive alcohol consumption.
Harry, too, has abused alcohol.
I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs.”
Interestingly, both Harry and Margaret eventually committed to living a healthier lifestyle.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
They both fell in love with divorced commoners
The two spares shared similar views on romance.
On October 31, 1955, Margaret decided to prioritize duty over romance.
Like Margaret, Harry also became engaged to a divorced commoner, Meghan Markle.
Unlike his great-aunt, Harry wasnot forced to renounce his title.
Ultimately, great-aunt and great-nephew alike reported struggling with their mental health.
In an article for theDaily Mail, royal expert Andrew Morton explained that Margaret contemplated suicide.
Her bedroom is on the ground floor."
In his memoir, “Spare,” the Duke of Sussex wrote, “I was an agoraphobe.
Which was nearly impossible given my public role.”
The prince went on to describe having a panic attack in front of his brother.
“Him of all people.
He’d been present for my very first panic attack.
With Kate,” he explained.
Additionally, Harry has been diagnosed withpost-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD).
“I don’t think that is how either sister characterized it from the records that we have.”
Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Anne Glenconner, echoed this sentiment in an interview withPeople.
The socialite told the outlet, “She was terribly loyal to the Queen.”
The prince went so far as to describe William as his “beloved brother and arch-nemesis.”
Again, I think it really plays into, or is played, by the heir/spare."
On February 9, 2002, Margaret died in her sleep following aseries of strokes.
At the time, Harry was only 17 years old.
In his memoir, Harry mourned the adult relationship that he and Margaret were never able to build.
“It struck me that Aunt Margo and I should’ve been friends,” he wrote.
“We had so much in common.
