5/5 The Queen's Sister
  by Helen M. Keltie (Vic. Australia)
Agreat deal of sympathy for Armstrong -Jones. If the facts are true, then the princess needed to learn a lesson.Excellent portrayals by Toby Stephens who captured the nuances of a bitter man and Lucy Cohu was
outstanding in the role. It has been described as a romp and I'm sure both
actors really enjoyed the spaghetti scenes in Tony's flat.

4/5 Interesting History of Princess Margaret+Bonus Material
  by R. Crane (Washington, DC United States)
This movie was a pleasant surprise. It was well-acted and well-made and accurate. It traces the history of Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, whose sad private life was played out publicly on the world stage. It chronicles her behavior, the drugs, wild parties, free sex etc. that always landed Princess Margaret in the headlines and as the major source for embarassing the British Royal Family in the generation preceding Princess Diana.

The DVD has a fascinating movie about a prior Royal scandal that involved Princess Caroline of Brunswick and her unhappy union with George, one of Margaret's ancestors. This was almost even better than the Queen's Sister. Don't miss it on the DVD.

4/5 Great two-for-one deal
  by M. Lucas (michigan)
Not knowing anything about the actual life of Princess Margaret may have had it's advantage when I watched this film. I liked it quite a lot, as a view into how different the life of a royal really is. Margaret is so impressed with herself and her status in this movie that you sometimes want to reach in the screen and strangle her as she demands special treatment from everyone. The best part is that she doesn't seem to even realize she's inconveniencing people because she truly believes it is her birth right. Her marriage is doomed by a husband who really just wants to be normal. The film comes to a close after Margaret hits rock bottom, and learns to appreciate a quieter life. I really enjoyed the look of this movie with lots of great clothes and ultra glamorous '60s and '70s nightclubs. The over the top Margaret is a lot of fun to watch, especially in her free spirited youthful days.

The great two-for-one comes to us in the bonus feature "A Royal Scandal". A compact and enjoyable film about another spunky royal, Caroline of Brunswick. I actually like this feature better than the title feature, as it is always very interesting to see such outrageous behavior in a historical figure. And for it's short length (about an hour) it tells the story very well.

This DVD is a good value with it's two movies. You are bound to be pleased with at least one if not both of them as I was.

3/5 Price of royal protocol
  by Reader (Boca Raton, FL)
Long before there was People's Pricess of Wales (Diana), there was Princess Margaret. I knew about her failed relationship with Towsend, but never knew about all the other scandals that surrounded her life. This is the generation that took their royal responsibility seriously. Queen Elizabeth's father was an accidental king, who has built his reputation during WWII. The respect that Royal Family built by staying in London during war and visiting bombed buildings and devastation during WWII definitely had effects on Elizabeth, who took her royal upbringing and consequent royal responsibility quite seriously. But what can second in line for the crown do when she finds out that suddenly she is fifth in line but yet must obey the rigid rules of royal protocol? How much sacrifices personal or otherwise one has to take in order to "earn" priviledge of living royal life where social diaries are filled with charity events and endless vacations. Many found that Margaret made an ultimate sacrifice when she gave up love of her life for the secure priviledge of her high social status that she was born into and raised with. But such sacrifice did not earn her life happily ever after. Quite the contrary - she became a royal family's black sheep that never quite got a chance to redeem herself. This is a meditation on money, priviledge, class that is way above any other - and inability to deal with change of times. It is amazing that all that protocol surrounding royals never prepared Margaret for her place in the world, not to mention the most important people supposed to inhabit it like her spouse and children and her own private life after all...Diana never got prepared for her life in the royal family, while Margaret, never got to adjust to her new role within the family after her sister took the throne upon their father's death.

2/5 Margaret Was NOT "B-List" But This Movie Is!!!!!!!!!!!
  by Marky McMark (CA)
This movie is strictly a tabloid-level, cardboard portrayal full of innacuracies of a complex character and while it can boast a good performance by Lucy Cohu, I was disappointed throughout. Number 1: Margaret was a fashion icon in the 50's and 60's -- never a hair out of place, always elegant and sophisticated -- and the costumes in this flick are so cheap and sloppy Lucy looks like a shopgirl from the suburbs. Number 2: Margaret was known for her heavy drinking but she was not, from everything I have read, a sloppy drunk who passed out at parties. Number 3: Antony Armstrong-Jones was a much more complicated figure than the spoiled oaf as he is written; (Toby Stephens is adorable in this though!)Tony loved the limelight as much as Margaret but felt constrained by the royal lifestyle that made him famous. And to her credit, Margaret supported her husband's attempts to have his own career outside of the royal system. Number 4: Margaret never would have kissed a woman in public. I know this movie says some of this stuff is based on fact and some isn't but this seemed like a bloated attempt to shock.

Furthermore, there are silly additions to this movie that make it seem cartoonish which was dumb and unnecessary. We know that the Brits are cynical about the Monarchy now, but do they have to underline it with nonsense like flashing to the Frenchman after we see Margaret lighting a cigarette the first time and his response that she caused babies to smoke? I thought it was stupid. Smoking was something everyone did back then and I hardly think Margaret had a big impact on it. Women simply smoked in public more even though they were puffing in private.

Lucy Cohu does her best do wade through this mess and manages at times to portray Margaret as a real woman with mixed results. I got the feeling she was told to play a spoiled promiscuous harpy and that's all we get to see. Yes, Margaret's appeal was that she was sophisticated and elegant but also earthy and rebellious, but this movie focuses only on the shocking side of things. There is more to the story in other words.