It was her job to divert the girls, now teenagers, from the many crises and dangers of war and to help them remain calm and prepared for anything. Crawford recalled how the family dealt with the enormous strain of World War II by pretending everything was fine no matter what. This attitude extended into the household, too. As the London Review of Books noted in a review of Crawford’s book, The Little Princesses, “Respect and respectability are what counts.” The public knew little of what happened in the palaces where Lilibet and Margaret grew up, and their mother, now queen, wanted to keep it that way. For members of the Royal Household and their servants, confidentiality was not just expected-it was a kind of unwritten law. The royal household was almost obsessively secretive.
She took them on expeditions outside the palace, formed a Girl Guide troop for royals, and took them shopping at stores like Woolworths. But she also worked to make life as normal as possible for the girls. Albert (now George VI) became king, with his oldest daughter, 10-year-old Elizabeth (known fondly as Lilibet), next in line for the throne.Ĭrawford moved with the family to Buckingham Palace and helped train her charges for their royal roles. But Edward refused to relent and in 1936, against his family’s wishes, he abdicated in order to marry Simpson.
At the time, it was unheard of for a king to marry a commoner, much less a divorced American.
Edward, now king, fell in love with Wallis Simpson, an American who had been married twice. Princess Elizabeth (center) and her younger sister Princess Margaret of Great Britain play in a miniature automobile while their governess, Marion Crawford, keeps an eye on them. Crawford’s charges were privately educated and had little contact with the outside world. Their uncle, Edward, was expected to become king and they were raised accordingly (their father Albert, Duke of York, was second in line to the throne). She was hired by the Duchess of York-the future Queen Mother-as a governess for her two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. Crawford was the first servant in the royal household ever to cash in on royal secrets-and she paid the price for her candor.Ī trained teacher, Crawford was just 22 years old when she entered the Royal Household. Her crime? Spilling the beans about her former charges. Her loyalty and loving care were rewarded with royal favor and even a rent-free home for life.īut in 1950, Marion “Crawfie” Crawford, beloved Scottish governess of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and servant of the Royal Family, was expelled from court, kicked out of her house and shunned by the very people she’d loved for decades. She was one of the Royal Family’s most trusted confidantes.
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