Princess Margaret Deserves Her Own Spinoff Of The Crown

In Season 3 of The Crown, Margaret exchanges some crude limericks with President Lyndon B. Johnson through a night of drinking during a United States visit. Queen Elizabeth is (unsurprisingly) mortified to hear about her sister’s antics when relayed to her. However, this behavior seemed on par for Margaret — both on screen and in real life.

Outside of a few key episodes, The Crown mainly followed the events that affected the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, and didn’t devote much screen time to Margaret and her lavish, scandal-ridden life.

While the princess descended the line of succession as the queen’s family grew, Margaret remained a popular fixture in the press. She and Antony Armstrong-Jones were the first to have a televised royal wedding in 1960, only to get divorced (something unheard of in the royal family) 18 years later, following rumors of cheating on both sides.

Her reputation doesn’t stop there. As a royal, Margaret lived a life of luxury and privilege. She got her hair done every Friday and spared no expense when shopping. Her morning routine included breakfast in bed, lounging around listening to the radio, and reading the newspapers — all while chain-smoking. When writing out a check, she simply signed it “Margaret.”

The final season gives Margaret a proper sendoff in the episode “Ritz,” which chronicles her waning health while flashing back to V-E Day in 1945 when Elizabeth showed a rare display of her sister’s devil-may-care attitude.

Despite living in the shadows of the queen, Margaret’s stories are too good to gatekeep, and she deserves her own show. Here are seven moments from Margaret’s life, including her relationship with Mick Jagger, that make the case for a spinoff of The Crown.

Pablo Picasso Obsessed Over Her

According to Pablo Picasso’s biographer, John Richardson, the artist was allegedly obsessed with Princess Margaret and wanted to marry her, despite never crossing paths.

Picasso’s obsession dated back to the 1950s, and the two were slated to meet in 1960 at his Tate Gallery exhibition. They never did, perhaps for the better. The artist reportedly had erotic dreams about her, and if he were to ever speak of them, “they would take [him] to the Tower of London and chop off [his] head!”

Richardson said that when he told Margaret many years later of Picasso’s plans to marry her, “She said she thought it the most disgusting thing she had ever heard.”

A Delicious Royal Exit

Margaret met the Fab Four in 1964 at the premiere of their movie A Hard Day’s Night. Due to royal protocol, however, the band couldn’t eat until Margaret left.

George Harrison grew so famished he outright asked the princess to leave so they could eat. “Your highness, we really are hungry and we can’t eat until you two go.” She obliged, saying, “In that case, we’d better run.”

Hollywood Royalty Vs. The Princess

Elizabeth Taylor and her then-husband Richard Burton had arrived early for a 1965 party in Beverly Hills that the princess was attending. The film stars were reportedly furious that they wouldn’t be seated with Margaret and Armstrong-Jones.

“Everywhere [Taylor and Burton] went, they were the most important people in the room,” Margaret’s friend said of the seating arrangements in a PBS documentary. “And here they were not the most important people in the room. So they up and left... And they didn’t come back.”

The Hollywood couple’s alleged distaste didn’t stop there. In a 1969 diary entry, Burton writes of an engagement that he and Taylor had with the princess. He didn’t think the royal was all that exciting. “We have to see Princess Margaret again at the opening night of Staircase and she is infinitely boringly uncomfortable to be around,” he wrote.

In the same year, however, Burton flirted heavily with Margaret in front of Taylor. So, how “infinitely boringly uncomfortable” could she have been?

Diamond Envy

Two years later, Taylor and Margaret had a thorny exchange at The Taming of the Shrew premiere in London. The actor donned her massive 33.19-karat Krupp Diamond ring.

When noticing it, the princess reportedly said, “Is that the famous diamond? It’s so large! How very vulgar!” She backtracked moments later, asking Taylor if she could try it on.

As Hollywood lore has it, Taylor responded, “Not so vulgar now, is it?”

Elton John’s “Incredibly Awkward” Night

Elton John was famously friends with Princess Diana but also had an unusual interaction with Margaret. In his memoir Me, he said he was caught in the middle of a row with her and Armstrong-Jones in 1972.

After they all met at a concert, the couple invited John and his band to Kensington Palace for dinner after a gig, and it was “incredibly awkward,” the musician recalled. “Not because of Princess Margaret — she was really sweet and friendly to everybody — but because of her husband, Lord Snowdon.”

As John wrote, “Everyone knew the marriage was in trouble — there were always rumors in the press about one or the other having an affair — but even so, nothing could have prepared us for his arrival.” At one point, Armstrong-Jones “snarled, ‘Where’s my f***ing dinner?’” which left Margaret in tears.

He and the band were seated for the entire incident. “You know, how bizarre can life in the Elton John Band get?” the singer wrote. “We end up watching Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon screaming at each other.”

Mackin’ On Mick Jagger

Margaret and the Rolling Stones frontman reportedly met sometime in the ‘60s. They got along well and even regularly telephoned each other.

“She found him sexy and exciting,” a courtier told Jagger’s biographer Christopher Andersen. “If you saw them laughing together, dancing, the way she’d put her hand on his knee and giggle at his stories like a schoolgirl, you’d have thought there was something going on.”

In the early ‘70s, she had even convinced him to build a house by hers in Mustique, an island in the Caribbean.

Whether or not they were ever more than friends remains the stuff of British folklore. One thing is certain, though: the queen never liked Jagger. When he was finally knighted in 2003, Prince Charles handled the ceremony, and the queen allegedly arranged for herself to be elsewhere. (This would have been a great plotline for The Crown since it did involve the sovereign.)

Mick, Margaret, & Leslie Manville

Margaret’s story could have taken a meta turn if The Crown’s writers room allowed. Lesley Manville (who portrays the princess in the final two seasons) says that she almost met her real-life counterpart, and the interaction could have involved Jagger.

While vacationing there in Mustique in the ‘80s, David Bowie invited Manville and her then-husband Gary Oldman to his home for a visit. Manville declined Bowie’s invite and ultimately left the island early because she wasn’t feeling well. She then found out through Bowie that Jagger had Margaret over at his property that night, and she played the drums.

Now, just imagine the Rolling Stones needle drop that would perfectly punctuate this scene.