Princess Margaret made her own funeral arrangements down to the smallest detail some years ago, London broadsheet The Times reported on today. Buckingham Palace confirmed that the details, which included who should be invited to a determinedly private low key service in St. George's Chapel at Windsor, had been locked away until her death. The Palace later announced that Princess Margaret had instructed that her body be cremated. It is understood that her ashes will be interred at St. Georges Chapel, Windsor. The Princess's requests for privacy are being followed to the letter. The Queen Mother has insisted that she be present at her daughter's funeral on Friday. Her determination was to be expected but given her own presently precarious state of health, her decision has given rise to fears for her wellbeing. She has been slow to recover from the effects of a cold and another fall, and has been absent at Sunday church services over the winter break at Sandringham.
The noted royalist commentator Lord St. John of Fawsley welcomed the low key arrangements. Noting that Princess Margaret was a very private person who shunned publicity, he told The Timesyesterday: "I am glad the Royal Family is respecting her wishes for a private funeral. It is what she wanted; it is what she asked for". He continued: "It is only right that her wishes are being met. She would not have expected or wanted huge crowds - it was not her way."
The Queen's Goodbye
The Queen spent some 45 minutes alone at the Princess's coffin in Kensington Palace this afternoon. The coffin was later moved to the Queen's Chapel, the 17th century Italian Renaissance Chapel at St. James's Palace where it was met by the Bishop of London, the Rt. Revd. John Chartres. It will remain there until the funeral at Windsor on Friday.
The departure of the hearse from Kensington Palace was a sombre and moving moment. Two kilted Queen's Pipers preceded the undertaker's illuminated limousine in a slow march while playing 'Over the Sea to Skye, a poignant bagpipe lament. At the the massive ornamental Palace gates they stood aside and piped the Princess away from her home for the last time on her slow journey to the Queen's Chapel. The brightly illuminated coffin was draped in Princess Margaret's personal standard and surmounted with a large wreath of white lilies. Escorted by police outriders it was driven slowly past Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hall past Buckingham Palace and into St. James's Palace off the Mall.
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