Queen Elizabeth's Shockingly Brutal Response to Sister Princess Margaret's Suicidal Threat Amid Mental Breakdown Over Divorce Scandal Revealed
Queen Elizabeth had a surprisingly brutal reaction to sister Princess Margaret's suicide threat.
Aug. 22 2025, Published 3:10 p.m. ET
The late Queen Elizabeth's brutal response to being told her only sister, Princess Margaret, was threatening to take her own life amid a mental breakdown over her marriage ending has been uncovered, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
While the monarch was poised and reserved in public, her "cool and dry humor" was apparently free-flowing when she was out of the spotlight.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton detailed one particularly harsh moment the late Elizabeth's dark humor was on display in 1974 when she received a frantic call about Margaret's well-being.
Margaret Breaks Down as Marriage Falls Apart in 1974
Margaret called a friend under distress in 1974 and threatened to kill or seriously injure herself.
At the time, Margaret's marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, was falling apart. Margaret met her future husband at a dinner party in 1958, and the pair tied the knot two years later in 1960.
Unfortunately for the princess, her union was extremely toxic and plagued by mutual infidelity, public scandal, and addiction issues.
Overwhelmed by the state of her life, a desperate Margaret called a friend, who was hosting a dinner party, pleading for help.
Margaret told her friend: "If you don't come over, I'll throw myself out of the window!"
Elizabeth Dismisses Friend's Concerns Over Margaret's Wellbeing
Elizabeth told Margaret's friend to go back to her dinner party because her sister's bedroom was 'on the ground floor.'
Panicked and unsure of what to do, Margaret's friend called Elizabeth, who was in her late 40s at the time, to explain the situation.
Despite being told her unstable little sister was threatening to kill or at least seriously injure herself, Elizabeth was said to have laughed off the distressing phone call.
Instead of using her authority to send a fleet of doctors or first responders to Margaret, Elizabeth reassured her worried friend everything would be okay, though she did not attempt to soften the delivery of her message.
The monarch said: "Carry on with your house party. Her bedroom is on the ground floor."
Margaret's Scandalous Divorce From Lord Snowdon
Elizabeth was well aware of Margaret's toxic marriage with Lord Snowdon.
Fairly speaking, Elizabeth knew her sister better than anyone. The two shared a fiercely close bond over the course of their lifetimes despite their differing personalities and challenges brought by the monarch's duties.
Elizabeth remained by Margaret's side as she weathered numerous scandals, including her infamous affair with her daughter's godfather, Anthony Barton, in 1966. Lord Snowdon's cheating also made headlines, especially his long-term mistresses Lady Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs and Ann Hills.
And a year before Margaret's suicide threat, she had been introduced to Roddy Llewellyn, a man 17 years her junior. She later invited him to her holiday home in Mustique in 1974, marking the first of many visits in what the princess once described as "a loving friendship."
She was unaware that in a few short years, a paparazzi snap with Llewellyn would be the final straw leading to her divorce.
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Margaret and Snowdon split after paparazzi photos caught her with another man at her holiday home.
Margaret's rocky marriage fueled the public image of a raunchy and wild princess who would never have been able to handle the responsibilities of being queen.
Her partying was notorious, and she was known for being an excessive drinker and chain smoker.
When photos of her and Llewellyn in swimsuits together were plastered across front pages, critics slammed her as a "floosie" and a "parasite."
Snowdon and Margaret announced their separation and officially divorced in 1978. Margaret never remarried.
Despite her divorce and subsequent public backlash, Margaret remained close to Snowdon until she died in 2002.
