Marion Crawford came from a small Scottish village. The royal family hired her in 1933. The future queen Elizabeth II. he was then seven years old, the younger Margaret less than three years old.
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Everything but math
Twenty-four-year-old Marion, known thereafter as “Crawfie,” came to the yard Duke and Duchess of York on the recommendation of her friends. She is said to be able to teach everything except math. At the time, no one expected that Prince Albert (George VI.) and then his daughter Elizabeth would sit on the throne. The first in line was to be Prince Eduard, son of George V.
The family thus did not pay too much attention to the education of the princesses. Their grandfather reportedly told Marion to only teach them to read, write and count. The first three years were spent in a very calm spirit. At the end of 1936, after the abdication of Eduard, Albert had to take over the reigns. At this moment, any kind of childhood ended for Elizabeth. Plus, she was very attached to Crawfie. City were mutual. Marion she was even postponing her own wedding because of it. If she got married, she would have to leave her job.
#royal #flashback „Royal governess Marion Crawford accompanies Princesses Elizabeth & Margaret to the headquarters of the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), off Tottenham Court Road, 15th May 1939. The princesses have just had their first ride on the London Underground. pic.twitter.com/fFGEfbvvXa
— Mace (@RoyaleVision) May 15, 2019
Enemy number one
The royal family greatly valued Marion’s loyalty, so they kept her in their service until Margaret’s coming of age in 1948. After that, she received a Victorian Order of the Third Class and the option of living in Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace. However, over the next two years, everything changed.
Shortly after the governess retired to “civilian life”, she was contacted by the editors of the American magazine Lady’s Home Journal. They were looking for someone to write a series of articles about the future queen, which were then to be published as a book. At first Marion wasn’t interested at all, but then she changed her mind. The Americans convinced her that, on the contrary, it would strengthen relations between the two countries. Major George Buthlay, whom Crawford had married a few months before, also played a large part in this. He did not like the amount of pension his wife received from the royal family. And a wedding gift? Very modest…
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A warning from the queen
Believing that she was doing the right thing, Marion asked the wife of George VI. for permission to cooperate with an American periodical. But she categorically refused. She explained to her that after performing such a post, will be the target of journalists, who will try to extract some spice from her for a pittance, which must not happen at any cost. Plus, if she did, she’d lose all her friends.
However, her words did not convince the former governess, so she signed the contract in 1949. After a few months, the text was created Little princesses. The publisher sent it through Lady Astor (an American by birth) to Queen Elizabeth for approval.
Although Marion portrayed the future British queen in the best light, Elizabeth was bothered by the fact that she was described as a cold and ascetic woman who did not care much about her daughters, and who also slept in a separate bedroom. But the publisher did not pass on her notes to Marion, and the book was published without changes. It became a bestseller. Marion then received an offer to write regular columns about Elizabeth II.
The Windsors with her though they cut off all contact. She also had to move out. From that point on, every other employee had to sign a confidentiality clause. If he violated it, he lost his job and faced legal action. Doing “do a crawfie”, which was synonymous with betrayal, simply did not pay.
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Sources of information:
Wikipedia.org: Marion Crawford
Wielkahistoria.pl: She was the first person to reveal the secrets of the Windsors’ private lives. This was her punishment
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2023-07-15 14:00:25
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