Princess back at duties

Press, 8 April 1978, Page 6

Princess back at duties

NZPA-Reuter London Princess Margaret, whose relationship with the wouldbe pop singer, Roddy Llewellyn, has embarrassed her sister, the Queen, has defied her critics and returned to public duties. The Princess, recovering from influenza, left her sick bed to join the Prime Minister (Mr James Callaghan) at a dinner given by the Queap at Windsor Castle for the United Nations SecretaryGeneral (Dr Kurt Waldheim). Princess Margaret attended the banquet only hours after officials made it clear she was not bowing out of public life.

Mr Callaghan was to have an audience with the Queen yesterday at the castle, and it was widely expected they would discuss the controversy over the Princess, heightened by today’s scheduled announcement of the Civil List, the allowances paid by the Government to the Royal family for fulfilling public duties. The Princess at present receives SNZ 105,000 a year from the Civil List. The increases to be announced are intended to cover inflation, but the Prime Minister was considered likely to warn the Queen that some members of the Parliament might challenge any proposal to raise her sister’s

allowance on the ground that she has not been earning it.

However, after much speculation this week Buckingham Palace sources said Princess Margaret had no intention of giving up her officials duties as a princess. This led one London tabloid newspaper, the “Sun,” to suggest that she would end her relationship with Mr Llewellyn. Another morning newspaper, the tabloid “Daily Mail,” said that according to friends of Princess Margaret, she was prepared to “ride out the controversy” about her controversial friendship, but contradicted the “Sun” report, claiming she had “no intention of severing” her association with Mr Llewellyn. Almost three-quarters of all Britons asked about Princess Margaret’s recent private lifestyle believe it has harmed her standing as a princess, according to an opinion research centre opinion poll published yesterday. But most of those questioned thougth that if she had to choose between her Royal duties or her friendship with Mr Llewellyn, she should decide in favour of personal happiness and give up her State income. The poll was carried out for Independent Television News by the Opinion Research Centre.