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CNN Live Sunday

Britain Remembers Princess Margaret

Aired February 10, 2002 - 17:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Great Britain this evening, they're sharing memories and mourning the loss of Princess Margaret. Queen Elizabeth's younger sister died yesterday at the age of 71. The Princess is being remembered as one who often made headlines, especially in her younger days, living life to the fullest. CNN's Hala Gorani has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A brief mention in honor of Queen Elizabeth's younger sister at St. Paul's Cathedral in London during Sunday mass. Outside Kensington Palace, where Margaret's body lies, a subdued reaction to the Princess' death, which came as a surprise but not a shock to Britons aware of her ill health for several years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last few years, it's such a shame that she lost her spirit really.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think a lot of people will be mourning. A lot of people didn't really know her, especially the younger ones like they did with Lady Di.

GORANI: The response to the latest royal passing, a far cry from the spontaneous outpouring of grief following Princess Diana's shock death in 1997.

GORANI (on camera): But if the reaction to Princess Margaret's death is rather subdued with only a few flowers laid here in front of Kensington Palace in London, in her hay day, Queen Elizabeth's younger sister was the center of London's social scene, grabbing headlines not only for her party going, but also for her colorful love life.

GORANI (voice over): Margaret had a notorious relationship with Peter Townsend, a man almost twice her age she could not marry because he was a divorcee. Followed an 18-year marriage and later a liaison with a man 17 years her junior. And royal watchers say that unconventional lifestyle and her love of life and the arts, is what she'll be remembered for.

PETER DEWAR, BURKE'S LANDED GENTRY: I think Princess Margaret will go down in the royal history book s as someone who was very glamorous, vivacious, and indeed very hard working, especially in her earlier years, because she then did undertake a great many royal duties of one kind or another.

GORANI: Princess Margaret's funeral will be a small private affair in St. George's Chapel, and palace sources say the Queen's Jubilee Year celebrations, marking 50 years of Elizabeth's reign, are scheduled to go ahead as planned.

Hala Gorani, CNN, London.

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