Queen Elizabeth’s Family’s Undetected Health History Revealed Amid Son Charles’ ‘Incurable’ Cancer Diagnosis
The recent health issues of both King Charles and Kate Middleton have seemingly shone a light on the entire royal family. People are now routinely interested in how all members of the family are doing. And health issues from the past are also being reported, including Queen Camilla’s liver condition and her struggles with pneumonia. But a new report is going even farther back.
According to a new report in The Telegraph, Meryle Secrest’s new book, titled Princess Margaret and the Curse: An Inquiry into a Royal Life, alleges Princess Margaret suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome due to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother’s drinking. The book is set to be published on Sept. 9.
Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Princess Margaret
The author even goes on to speculate that Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister suffered from an “invisible disability” due to this, which affected the course of her life. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition that can be traced back to a child’s exposure to alcohol during the mother’s pregnancy, and it’s been known to cause behavioral challenges and physical disabilities.
According to The Telegraph, Secrest says that Princess Margaret did not have the facial features typical of fetal alcohol syndrome. However, she was prone to mood swings, was small in stature, and had learning difficulties and migraines that may have been symptoms of the condition. Since fetal alcohol syndrome was not properly identified until 1973, and Princess Margaret was born in 1930, the condition would have gone untreated.
The Queen Mother was known to be a heavy social drinker, and a lack of knowledge about the condition at the time would have meant she would not have been warned about drinking during pregnancy.
Would the same affliction not have affected Queen Elizabeth, who was 4 years older than Princess Margaret? According to reports, the Queen Mother couldn’t stomach alcohol during her pregnancy with Queen Elizabeth. “The sight of wine simply turns me up! Isn’t it extraordinary! It will be a tragedy if I never recover my drinking powers,” the Queen Mother wrote in a 1925 letter to her husband, according to the outlet.
Princess Margaret passed away in 2002 at the age of 71. She had a series of health problems during her life, including a series of strokes as she got older. She was known for her loud personality during her life, and was even nicknamed the “Royal Rebel” due to her glamorous lifestyle and very tempestuous love life.
The upcoming book also claims Princess Margaret’s family and nurses thought she was “naughty” and at times “mischievous and provocative,” known to speak before thinking and “blurt out the truth.”
Secrest reportedly identified the condition by comparing Princess Margaret’s life to those who have navigated the condition. It’s important to note, however, that she was never diagnosed, and there’s no evidence that the princess suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome.
All of this comes amid reports that King Charles’ cancer is incurable, but manageable, according to writer and associate editor of the Daily Telegraph, Camilla Tominey. “The talk now is that he may die ‘with’ cancer, but not ‘of’ cancer following a rigorous treatment program,” she wrote. That is, at least, some good news, amid so many troubling reports.
