Marion Crawford (June 5, 1909 – February 11, 1988) was a servant with the British Royal Family, and governess of the children of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret who gave her the nickname "Crawfie". Marion was the named author of the book "The Little Princesses" which told the story of her time with the Royals. After the book was published in 1950^[1], she was banished from court and neither the Queen or any other Royal Family member ever spoke to her again. June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony The British Royal Family is a group of people closely related to the British monarch. ... A governess is a female employee from outside of the family who teaches children within the family circle. ... George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor) (14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was the third British monarch using the name Windsor. ... Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as Queen Elizabeth. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor) (born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms. ... HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret (Margaret Rose Armstrong-Jones, née Windsor; (August 21, 1930—February 9, 2002) was a member of the British Royal Family, the second eldest daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and sister of the current British... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Royal Governess

Marion Crawford was raised in Dunfermline, Fife and taught at the Edinburgh Moray House Institute. Whilst studying to become a child psychologist, she took a summer job as the governess for Lord Elgin's children. This led her to take a role in the household of HRH Prince Albert, Duke of York, whose wife, the Duchess of York was a distant relative of Lord Elgin. After one year the arrangement was made permanent. The Royal Burgh of Dunfermline (in Gaelic, Dùn Phàrlain), is a town and burgh in Fife, Scotland, that sits on high ground 3 miles from the shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh. ... Fife (Fìobh in Gaelic) is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with landward boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. ... George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor) (14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was the third British monarch using the name Windsor. ...

Crawford became the governess of TRH Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret of York. After the abdication of their uncle, King Edward VIII, in 1936, the Princesses' father was King, and Elizabeth was now the heiress presumptive. Crawford remained in service to the King and Queen, and did not retire until 1948 when the Princess Elizabeth, now aged 21, married HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Crawford herself having married two months earlier. Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor), later The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India from the death of... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... The Duke of Edinburgh The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten, formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) (born 10 June 1921, Greece) is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. ...

Retirement

After the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, they conducted an overseas tour, visiting Canada and the United States of America. Shortly afterwards, the publishing house, ran by Bruce and Beatrice Gould, contacted Buckingham Palace and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to seek stories for publication across the Atlantic. Although refused by the Palace, the British government proved keen on the idea and suggested Marion Crawford, as the recently retired governess of the Princesses. Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. ...

When the Goulds approached Marion, she first sought permission from Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother), who refused. However the Goulds persisted and offered Crawford $85,000 for her story. Although Crawford accepted she asked the contract state that Palace approval would be sought for any stories published, however the contract allowed the Goulds to publish even if the Palace refused. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as Queen Elizabeth. ...

The Little Princesses

Crawford's unauthorised work was published in the Ladies' Home Journal in the United States, and Woman's Own in the UK. A book, "The Little Princesses" sold exceptionally well. Later she would write stories about George V's widow Queen Mary, the new Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. She also put her name to Woman's Own's 'Crawfie's Column', a social diary written by journalists several weeks in advance. A cover of Ladies Home Journal from 1906 Ladies Home Journal was first published February 16, 1883 as a womens supplement to the Tribune and Farmer. ... Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (26 May 1867 – 24 March 1953), later Queen Mary, was the Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom. ...

Royal Reaction

Queen Elizabeth was predictably furious and was quoted as saying: "We can only think that our late and completely trusted governess has gone off her head, because she promised in writing that she would not publish". The first note of displeasure for Crawford came when she failed to receive a Christmas Card from the Royal Family in the year of publication. Christmas Card is a vinyl album of Christmas music the case of which contained a reproduction of a Christmas card that was signed by the whole Partridge Family, the stars of a 1970s sitcom. ...

As the first servant to cash in on the private lives of the Royals, Crawford was treated severely by the Royal Family, and they never spoke to her again. Despite this, the King and Queen received the Goulds, who published the stories, at Buckingham Palace, and the book was thought to have boosted the popularity of the Royal Family in America.

Footnote: In all fairness to the Queen Mother and the rest of the Royal Family, it is perfectly understandable, why there would be serious misgivings about family servants writing unauthorized biographies, articles and/or memoirs, based upon their period of official employment with members of the family of the Head of State.

Later life

Crawford's writing career came to a crashing halt, when the column to which her name was attached was exposed as a fraud when it published details of the Trooping of the Colour ceremony and the Ascot races, when in fact they had been cancelled due to a strike. As the stories were written in advance, it was too late to stop their publication. The Trooping the Colour is a British military pageant. ... Ascot Racecourse is a racecourse, located in the village of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire used for thoroughbred horse racing. ...

Crawford retired back to Scotland, living in a small village in Aberdeenshire. Ironically, the Royal Family regularly drove past her front door, on way to nearby Balmoral Castle. However, they never once stopped off to see the Queen's former governess. When she died at Hawkhill House, a nursing home in Aberdeen in 1988, neither the Queen, the Queen Mother nor Princess Margaret sent a wreath. Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle, painted by Queen Victoria in 1854 during its construction Balmoral Castle is currently a large mansion situated deep within the Scottish Highlands. ... This article is about the Scottish city. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?R=0752849743B