Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, was born in August 1930, four years after Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed into the world. The only sibling of the current reigning monarch, she was once the second in line to the throne. It came after her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson in 1936. This meant that Margaret’s father became the king, known as King George VI, while her mother was given the name Queen Elizabeth – later known as The Queen Mother.
Princess Margaret’s sister took on her role as the Queen in 1952, following the death of their father.
It had already become increasingly unlikely that the younger sibling would ever take on the role as Queen, as Queen Elizabeth was already mother to two of her children – Prince Charles and Princess Anne – by the time of her coronation.
Following the Second World War, Princess Margaret fell in love with Group Captain Peter Downsend, who divorced his first wife in 1952.
The pair were once engaged, but their romance ended before they tied the knot.
Instead, Princess Margaret went on to strike up a romance with the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones.
Having married in 1960, the duo then had two children together: David and Sarah.
However, their marriage was not meant to be, and their divorce was finalised on July 11 1978.
Later in her life, Princess Margaret suffered a number of health problems.
As reported by The Guardian, in 1998, the Royal suffered a mild stroke.
She was thought to have had a second stroke in 2000, and another the following year – which impaired her vision and affected her left side.
She died at the age of 71 on the morning of February 9 2002, in London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital.
Princess Margaret had suffered another stroke which resulted in cardiac problems, it was reported.
Following the sad news, Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son, Prince Charles, paid tribute to his aunt.
In a statement which was reproduced by the BBC, he spoke of the sad loss.
As part of the tribute, the Prince of Wales, now 70, said: “My darling aunt had such a dreadful time in the last few years with this illness, it was hard for let alone her to bear it but all of us as well, particularly as she had such a wonderfully free spirit.
“She loved life and lived it to the full and from that point of view it was even harder for everybody to witness this, and of course at this moment all our hearts go out to all those people who also have relations that suffer from strokes and know only too well the agony that people have to go through.”
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