Princess Margaret suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome brought on by the Queen Mother’s drinking, a new biography has claimed.

Meryle Secrest, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated biographer, has re-examined the princess’s personality and personal struggles in light of greater knowledge about the condition.

Princess Margaret and the Curse, Secrest’s forthcoming unofficial biography, speculates that the princess, who died in 2002 aged 72, suffered from an “invisible disability” brought on by fetal alcohol syndrome.

While the book states that Margaret lacked the alcohol syndrome’s tell-tale smooth lip philtrum and small eyes, she did display characteristic mood-swings, stunted growth, difficulties learning how to write and painful migraines.

It cites accounts of the Queen Mother’s drinking in later life, when it was claimed by a former equerry that she would enjoy gin and Dubonnet: two parts pink vermouth to one part gin, wine and port until the 6pm “magic hour” when martinis would be prepared.

Fetal alcohol syndrome was not well understood until the 1970s, the book states, and it is likely that the young Queen Mother would not have been advised to avoid alcohol during her pregnancy with Margaret.

Posted by badoopidoo

9 comments

  2. These symptoms seem way too vague to diagnose someone with?

  3. This is a very stupid and sensationalist claim. She had none of the characteristic facial features – as the writer recognizes -, which means she couldn’t have had fetal alcohol syndrome. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t affected by alcohol consumption during pregnancy, but mood swings, migraines, learning difficulties, being short… really? There are 919291882 possible reasons for any of those.

  4. FASD is so interesting to me. I worked with a beautiful little girl who likely has it and her mother as well (I’m an education consultant). Neither had the stereotypical facial features but definitely had some of the developmental and behavioural characteristics. I hope they are both doing OK.

  5. I’ve just always assumed she had borderline personality disorder, exacerbated by almost never in her life having been told no.

  6. These symptoms listed read like a horoscope, there is enough there that anyone reading it could see it as applying to them. Migraines, Learning Difficulties, Mood swings… huge number of people have all those symptoms.

  8. So speculation based on nothing but the well known fact that the Queen Mother liked a drink.

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