I know that he met Marion Crawford at least once – they shared a car to Windsor – and I have put these two unlikely people together in a growing friendship of mutual affection and trust.

Marion, who would do anything for the monarchy – even postponing her marriage for over ten years – had her life and reputation destroyed with her book. Tommy had a healthy disrespect for the royal family, yet he survived unscathed.

Personally, I like both of them very much and would have loved to have met them. But it’s up to you to decide whether Marion Crawford got what she deserved, or was grossly mistreated.

I believe she was grossly mistreated.

Marion Crawford attempted to take her life twice in her final years and eventually died in 1988 in an Aberdeen nursing home, disillusioned by her marriage and embittered by her experiences in life. Her funeral was lonely and there were no wreaths from the royal family. Her royal pension was paid until the day she died.

Tommy Lascelles retired from service in 1953 and settled into the Old Stables, a grace-and-favour property at Kensington Palace. He described it ‘one of the nicest houses in London’.

He lived there until his death in August 1981 aged 94, having avidly followed and enjoyed the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer the month before.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Little Princesses, by Marion Crawford, Seven Dials (2003, first published 1950)

King’s Counsellor: Abdication and War: The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles, edited by Duff Hart-Davis, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2006)

A King’s Story: The Memoirs of HRH The Duke of Windsor K.G, Prion Books Ltd (1998, first published 1947)

Princes at War: The British Royal Family’s Private Battle in the Second World War, by Deborah Cadbury, Bloomsbury (2015)

Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen, by Sarah Bradford, Penguin (2002)

George VI, by Sarah Bradford, Penguin (2011)

The Quest for Queen Mary, by James Pope-Hennessy, edited by Hugo Vickers, Hodder & Stoughton (2018)

Queen Elizabeth: The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, by William Shawcross, Macmillan (2009)

Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, by Hugo Vickers, Hutchinson (2005)

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About the Author

Fern Britton is the highly acclaimed author of nine Sunday Times bestselling novels. Her books are cherished for their warmth, wit and wisdom, and have won Fern legions of loyal readers. Fern has been a judge for the Costa Book of the Year Award and is a supporter of the Reading Agency, promoting literacy and reading.