Princess Margaret led a more colourful existence than her older sister Queen Elizabeth II as she was free from the responsibilities of heirdom. While Margaret was known to love a cocktail party and appeared to live the high life, in reality she was far from carefree.

The royal’s rebellious streak made her a huge hit with viewers of Netflix drama, The Crown, in which she is played by actress Vanessa Kirby in season one and two.

While on the surface Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II or “Lilibet” seemed like chalk and cheese, growing up they were very close.

Former governess to the Royal Family, Marion Crawford wrote in her unauthorised biography, The Little Princesses, that the sisters would scrap like any normal siblings.

She said they were “two entirely normal and healthy” little girls.

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“Neither was above taking a whack at her adversary if roused,” she wrote.

“Lilibet [Elizabeth] was quick with her left hook. Margaret was more of a close-in fighter, known to bite on occasions.”

Elizabeth picked Margaret to be her bridesmaid when she married Prince Philip in 1947, a clear testament to their strong bond.

Even after Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952 the sisters were understood to speak almost every day and had a direct phone line between their two homes.

Despite Margaret’s life of luxury, she lived in fear of her sister’s disapproval, a biographer has claimed.

Journalist Craig Brown, author of Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret, claimed Margaret had recurring nightmares about disappointing Elizabeth.

When a novelist asked Margaret if she ever dreamt about the Queen, Margaret replied that she had nightmares of being “disapproved of”.

As chronicled in The Crown, Princess Margaret’s ill-fated affair with Group Captain Peter Townsend strained her relationship with her sister, who could not permit her to marry a divorcee as Queen and head of the church.

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While their relationship went on for two years Margaret finally chose her duty to the Commonwealth over the romance and put an end to it in 1955.

On 31 October 1955, Margaret released the following statement: “I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend.

“I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage.

“But mindful of the Church’s teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others.”

While it was widely perceived at the time that Margaret was pressured to end her relationship with Peter Townsend, one royal biographer has claimed otherwise.

Royal biographer Christopher Warwick author of ‘Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts’ claimed their “love was no longer strong enough”.

He told Express.co.uk: “But the bottom line really is that, and she said it to me, they’d been apart for two years, he’s been in Belgium.

“She said to me, and it’s the only thing she did say because she didn’t discuss the Townsend business even with her closest friends.

“But she did say to me on one occasion ‘well how do you know if you want to marry somebody who you’ve been apart for two years?’ And that was basically it.

“While there was still affection there, the love was no longer strong enough for them to have married.

“So they then took the decision that they wouldn’t. That’s the truth of the matter.”

Whatever the reason for the split, the sister’s close bond survived the scandal and the Queen gave Margaret her blessing to marry photographer Anthony Armstrong Jones in 1959.

Following Margaret’s marriage to Mr Armstrong Jones, who became Lord Snowden, the Queen gifted the couple a 20-room apartment at Kensington Palace.

While Margaret believed she had found true love with Lord Snowdon their marriage was not to last.

They had two children together David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1961) and Lady Sarah Chatto (1964) and divorced in 1978.

Their marriage broke down amid speculation Margaret was having an affair with Roddy Llewellyn, who was 17 years her junior.

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