Margaret's anger at Archbishop

Princess Margaret's faith was tested to the utmost during her final illness and she was never able to forgive the then Archbishop of Canterbury for the part he played in the Townsend affair.

Chaplain to the Queen, The Rev John Robson, believes her tragedy was of a life confined by her royal role and sent decisively down the wrong track when the relationship with Group Captain Townsend came to an end. Her affair with Townsend was the subject of much condemnation in the 50s.

Many powerful political figures, including the Marquis of Salisbury, violently objected on the grounds that he was a divorcee. And crucially the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher, also made it plain that the church totally disapproved.

Faced with such a powerful combination Princess Margaret was eventually forced to issue a statement in 1955 that the relationship between herself and Group Captain Townsend was at an end.

Mr Robson told the Evening Standard: "The Church comes out of that whole affair rather badly. Had she married him her life would have been totally different.

"She was a spiritual person and it was all decided politically rather than spiritually."

Princess Margaret made clear to him the regard and affection in which she held Townsend throughout her life and felt particularly bitter about the Archbishop of Canterbury's role.

Mr Robson talks of the Princess as someone whose faults he recognised but whom he still managed to like and admire.

The two of them had little in common but their religious faith and a devotion to a man both regarded as a father figure, one-time Dean of Westminster The Rev Eric Abbott.

It was to Mr Abbott that Princess Margaret turned after the death of George VI. For 30 years he was "guide, philosopher and friend" to her according to Mr Robson.

"He filled the gap as much as anyone could. There was her insecurity, a lot of it to do with her upbringing," he said. "And she was by temperament born to lead and be a trend setter but in social terms she was destined to be number two. I don't think she would have been so confined these days."

Princess Margaret would take communion at The Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, just by the Savoy Hotel. The chapel was a favourite of her father's and she had her own stall complete with coat of arms.

It was noted how she would always attend before flying off to Mustique, the joke among staff being that she was making sure she was "shriven" before misbehaving in the Caribbean.

Mr Robson remembers her infectious laughter and wit but has no illusions as to how fearsome the Princess could be with a cutting remark. I am thankful to say I have never been on the receiving end of that aspect to her character," he said. "Like all of us, she had a dark side - that was part of her attraction.

"Whatever her faults she was a person who wanted to be good, despite herself. She tried very hard at that."

He is convinced that throughout her life she maintained a deep faith but hints that her relationship with God was severely tested in recent years.

"In the 1960s while all that glamour was going on there was this different person underlying and underpinning everything," he said. "Her relationship with God and her faith was there although I think she sometimes didn't quite know how to plug into it."