dailystar.co.uk
12.09.2022 / 19:06
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Queen’s nanny tried to take her own life after revealing family secrets in tell-all book
Queen as intimately growing up as her nanny — but her insiders book about life working for the royals put her on a dark, lonely path.Marion Crawford was a Scottish educator and governor to Queen Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, when they were growing up, helping prepare them for public life after their father, King George VI, took the throne.She would teach the children French and even playing the part of hobby horse, allowing herself to be strapped up with reins and bells while carrying the future Queen around Buckingham Palace.Following her retirement, she would go on to publish a book about the princesses' young years.But the Queen Mother objected to Crawford’s insights into the royal family, including hints about the-then king’s mood swings, and froze her out.The 78-year-old was cut off from the family and died alone in a nursing home, having tried to take her own life on two separate occasions.Raised in Fife and taught in Edinburgh, Marion Crawford became a governess for the Duke and Duchess of York who would go onto become King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother).Upon George VI’s accession to the throne in 1936, “Crawfie” became responsible for educating Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, with Politico describing her as the royal family’s “very own Mary Poppins”.Crawford was a dedicated companion of the royal family for more than 17 years, being granted a cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace as a way of thanks for her service upon her retirement in 1947.The teacher was so dedicated to the famous family that she put off getting married for 16 of those years so as not to abandon the King and Queen.But trouble began for the Scot when, in a deal brokered with