Three years ago, Lady Anne Glenconner wrote Lady in Waiting, a memoir about being lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret and coming up through the aristocracy, and her life and times, basically. The book was a massive success, and her appearance on the Graham Norton Show – alongside cast members of The Crown – became an instant classic, especially when Lady Anne told the story of her honeymoon in Paris, when her new husband took her to a brothel. Olivia Colman’s reaction to the story was particularly amazing (the video is at the end of the post). Well, her first book was such a success that she’s written a second book called Whatever Next? She’s currently promoting it, and she’s giving interviews right and left, which is why she spoke to the Times of London. She talked about the glamour of royalty in the old days, how much she adores King Charles and Prince William, and she also shared her thoughts on the Sussexes. Some highlights:
King Charles’s slimmed-down coronation. “I think it has to be. And anyway, I’m so fond of King Charles but, you know, he’s not young. The Queen was so beautiful, so glamorous, and look at the Duke of Edinburgh. He was to die for. People were madly in love with him. It was absolute perfection.” She thinks Charles will make a “great” king. “He’s had long enough. He really minds about things and people and you can see it. And she’s great. She’s wonderful for him.”
The Crown needs a disclaimer: “I think it should,” says Glenconner, who was portrayed in an earlier series. “Absolutely it should. One saw the moment when I was on, and Princess Margaret, and it bore no relation to the truth whatsoever. I don’t watch it now. I couldn’t. It would make me so angry, seeing people trashed like that. Well, not trashed, but not like them. It’s fiction. I think it should say so clearly. And,” she says darkly, “a lot of people do.”
She’s a “big fan” of William and Kate: “I think she’s absolutely fantastic. I don’t know her very, very well, but they come to Mustique quite often. I think she’s wonderful, and Prince William. They’re so good together. And lovely children. And she looks stunning, doesn’t she? That’s a help. I think she was very well brought up by Carole.”
The Sussex section: As for Megxit and the ongoing Sussex psychodrama, she went to their wedding but met Meghan only once, briefly, which is at least more than some of the other guests. She sighs. “I feel that probably the sort of things the royal family have to do, they’re just not very interesting. You’re not driven around in a golden coach. They had a wonderful wedding, but life isn’t going…” She pauses. “One’s own wedding was fantastic, but next day you’re back to normal. I don’t know whether she thought it was going to be all very grand.” Princess Margaret was something of a royal renegade herself, so she might have sympathised. She gives me an arch look. “I rather doubt it.”
“She looks stunning, doesn’t she? That’s a help. I think she was very well brought up by Carole.” I think in a limited way, that is how those inside WindsorWorld view Kate and the Middletons. Kate is “doing her duty,” nothing more or less, and it helps that Kate is somewhat interesting to look at. It also helps that Carole trained her daughter to be a doormat and do anything to secure the ring and maintain her marriage. As for what she says about the Sussexes… “I don’t know whether she thought it was going to be all very grand.” Harry and Meghan have made it abundantly clear that they wanted to work and they wanted to exist without being smeared and denigrated in the media. This whole idea that royal life wasn’t glamorous enough for Meghan is asinine. But I’m sure that’s one of the prevailing thoughts within the aristocracy.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencap from Graham Norton.
Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle attend the Dawn Service at Wellington Arch to commemorate Anzac Day in London, Britain, April 25, 2018. 
(170118) — DAVOS, Jan. 18, 2017 () — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2017.(/Xu Jinquan)(gl) 
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the ‘Together: Our Community’ Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London, England.,Image: 534664062, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has a drink as she visits the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the ‘Together: Our Community’ Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London, England. 
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