Princess Margaret was not like the other royals. A free spirit, she broke away from the conventions that others imposed upon her and lived a life that has seemed to some scandalous, to others liberating.

It was Margaret who had an illicit love affair with jazz musician Robin Douglas-Home and letters from that relationship are reprinted here. When Douglas-Home was rejected by Margaret, he killed himself and was replaced by another lover.

It is stories such as this, revealed in this book, that paint a portrait of one of the most secretive members of Britain's royal family.