Did Princess Margaret really lose her royal duties? The Crown fact-checked

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Throughout The Crown, sisters Queen Elizabeth (played by Olivia Colman) and Princess Margaret (Helen Bonham Carter) are portrayed as not seeing eye to eye over Margaret’s role in the royal family. In episode seven of the new series, Margaret is told she can no longer carry out her royal duties but did this really happen? Express.co.uk has everything you need to know.

Did Princess Margaret really loose her royal duties?

Episode seven of The Crown, titled The Hereditary Principle, mainly focuses on the struggles of Princess Margaret.

In The Crown, the royal family are celebrating the 21st birthday of The Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward (Angus Imrie) in March 1985.

Despite the joyous occasion, sadly there were some difficult consequences on his aunt, Princess Margaret.

It is true Margaret could no longer serve as Counsellor of State from March 1985 onwards as Princes Edward had come of age.

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However, she did not lose all of her other royal duties as a result, which is what is suggested in The Crown.

Moments before she was demoted, Margaret had begged the Queen for more responsibility.

However, it is unknown if this happened in real life.

As the sister of Queen Elizabeth, Margaret was once second in line to the throne.

However, following Elizabeth’s marriage to Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) and the birth of their four children Charles (Josh O’ Connor), Andrew (Tom Byrne), Edward, and Anne (Erin Doherty), Margaret has further pushed down the line of succession and even further when Prince Charles began having children of his own – Prince William and Prince Harry.

At the time of Prince Edward’s 21st birthday, Margaret was ninth in line to the throne.

The 1937 Regency Act permits the monarch to have a list of six senior royals, known as Counsellors of State, who could be called on to deputize for the King/Queen in an official capacity.

As Edward turned 21, he was automatically added to the Regency List, replacing Margaret.

Despite losing her title of Counsellor of State, Margaret continued to carry out royal duties and attend engagements in real life.

The series is set against the backdrop of a real historical timeline and events, but creator, Peter Morgan, has used blended historical fact with fiction to tell the story of the British Royal Family.

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Morgan told The Times: “We do our very, very best to get it right, but sometimes I have to conflate [incidents]…

“You sometimes have to forsake accuracy, but you must never forsake the truth.”

Royal expert Marlene Koenig exclusively gave her thoughts on the show’s accuracy.

She said: “No, it is a fictionalized account of living and dead people.

“The characters are real, but their stories, their lives, are not always presented with historical accuracy.”

Throughout her lifetime, Margaret carried out several official royal engagements.

In 1947, she launched the ocean liner, Edinburgh Castle, in Belfast in 1947, one of her first royal engagements.

She then embarked on many tours, including South Africa, the Caribbean, East Africa, United States, Japan and Canada.

She also toured Australia in 1975, the Philippines in 1980, Swaziland in 1981 and China in 1987.

Margaret had a keen interest in charity work, music and ballet and served as president of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and of the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

She was the Grand President of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade and the Colonel in Chief of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps.

Princess Margaret was also the patron of the Girl Guides, Northern Ballet Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Scottish Ballet.

The Crown season 4 is streaming on Netflix now

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