MARGARET AND ME

The princess diaries - and my Kiwi connection!

- Wendyl Nissen

“I feel so very, very sorry for the Queen,” says Lady Anne Glenconner, former lady in waiting to Princess Margaret.

She is chatting to the Weekly on the phone about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in particular their decision to renounce their positions as senior working royals.

“It is so very sad because everybody was thrilled when [Prince Harry and Meghan] got married,” adds Lady Anne. “It was a wonderful wedding and then everybody was so pleased when they had their little boy Archie.

“It’s rather sad because they, well especially she, doesn’t seem to like being a royal. Maybe she imagined being a member of the royal family in rather a different way.”

For 34 years Lady Anne was Margaret’s lady in waiting so she knows only too well what being a royal entails.

“A lot of it isn’t glamorous and fun, you know, it’s a job and maybe Meghan didn’t realise that. Princess Margaret really buckled down and did a great job with all of her charities, but I have a feeling Meghan didn’t realise this is what you do.

“I just feel very sorry for Prince Harry. He loved being in the army, he had lots of friends and he had a great life here and he’s given that all up.”

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge live near her when they’re in Norfolk and are “absolutely wonderful” though, she declares.

“The Duchess of Cambridge really is a star now and the newspapers just love her. They’ve been really building her up and she does a great job. Thank God for them!”