A former employee of the Royal Household has revealed how a particular act of kindness from King Charles took her completely by surprise.
Lady Anne Glenconner, 93, who served as lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, has published a new memoir chronicling her years within royal circles.
Since launching her book, Manners and Mischief: An A–Z of a Life Lived Well, Lady Anne has been discussing various moments from her decades-long service to the Crown.
Within its pages, she not only recounts tales from her time among the Royal Family but also includes personal photographs capturing her work alongside some of its most prominent figures.
The publication arrives six years after her 2019 bestseller Lady in Waiting, which detailed her professional journey while also revealing distressing accounts of her marriage to Colin Tennant, marked by abuse, reports the Mirror.
In an interview with Hello! magazine about witnessing Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, Lady Anne disclosed her astonishment at receiving an invitation from King Charles.
She recalled: “He could only invite 120 or so close friends, so I was very honoured to be asked. And of course, it was wonderful, because I could relax. I had dinner with him three days later. I went in and he said: ‘How was it Anne?’ And I said ‘Magnificent!’”
At 93, Lady Anne maintains she’s enjoying life more than ever, determined to make the most of things and go out “with a bang.”
She said: “How could I not be having the time of my life? Here I am, at 93, and the other day I went to Vienna. I did a talk and went to the wonderful opera.
“And then I went to Chatsworth for the Queen’s Reading Room Festival, where I was sitting next to Jilly Cooper. I had the most wonderful dinner with her, with lots of champagne. I couldn’t believe that just a few days later she died.”
Lady Anne isn’t the only Royal biographer to write about Princess Margaret. Author Andrew Lownie also referenced the late Princess in his book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, claiming she strongly disapproved of Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York.
In an extract published in the Daily Mail, Lownie alleged that Margaret confronted Fergie, saying: “You have done more to bring shame on the Royal Family than could ever have been imagined. Clearly you have never considered the damage you are doing us all. How dare you discredit us?”
