A biographer has made a bold claim about Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
Meryle Secrest, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated biographer, claims the Princess suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, which had a significant impact on her personality and life.
Secrest claims that the Queen Mother drank alcohol while pregnant with Margaret, leading to the Princess suffering from what she called an “invisible disability.”
The biographer has re-examined Princess Margaret’s personality and personal struggles now that there is more knowledge about the syndrome.
While Margaret did not have the facial characteristics of small eyes and a smooth upper lip, she suffered from the more invisible symptoms like mood swings, stunted growth, trouble learning to write, and migraines.
Citing accounts of the Queen Mother’s drinking later in life, a former equerry claimed she enjoyed gin and Dubonnet. As fetal alcohol syndrome was not understood at the time, Secrest claims the Queen Mother would not have been told to refrain from alcohol while pregnant.
The author also says the Queen Mother did not drink much or at all while pregnant with Margaret’s older sister, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Throughout the book, Secrest cites the work of Dr Kenneth Jones, who discovered the condition, and compares Margaret’s life to those who have been diagnosed and lived with the syndrome.
There has been no evidence to prove that the Princess suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, nor has the Royal Family commented on the claim.
The book,
As author I do not make this claim. This disability , called ARND, or Alcohol Related Neurological Disorder, was made by Dr Jones, who co=wrote the original paper in 1973 . He is now the world authority on the subject. I interviewed him for 3 hours and described the late Princess’s multiple issues in exhaustive detail. My book quotes his conclusions
Meryle Secrest