LONDON: Princess Margaret’s son and daughter were both happily married. They never hit the headlines. Both were spared the harsh media spotlight.

Each had memories to treasure of their 71-year-old mother who died on Saturday after the latest in a series of strokes.

“We had an immensely happy childhood,” furniture designer David Linley said of his mother’s marriage to Lord Snowdon, which ended in divorce when he was just a teenager.

Her artist daughter Sarah gave Margaret one of her happiest last memories. The ailing princess went to her grandson Arthur’s third birthday party in the final days of her life — and she went home with a helium balloon tied to her wheelchair.

Sarah and her husband, fellow artist Daniel Chatto, live quietly, away from public scrutiny. Her appearance in the prying press is rare and usually confined to the brief and the bland.

Margaret, who as a child turned cartwheels down the corridors of Buckingham Palace while her older sister was groomed for the top job, led a turbulent life of thwarted love.

But by the end, Margaret had found serenity and comfort in the achievements of her children.

“In the last decade she’d somehow come into port. She was not at all unhappy,” said lifelong friend Lord St John of Fawsley. “She had great satisfaction from the fact that Sarah and David were doing so well.”

Charles and Diana conducted their private battles via the press. Prince Andrew was dubbed “Randy Andy” for his love of women. His then-wife Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson was photographed in a raunchy poolside shot with her Texan financial adviser.

In sharp contrast, Margaret’s children were left to lead uncluttered and uncomplicated lives. Viscount Linley, married to sculptress Serena, gave a rare interview recently on a popular radio programme where celebrities pick their all-time favourite records. Linley, who has lived at Kensington Palace and helped care for his ailing mother, had one abiding memory of her: sitting in her room listening to classical music on the radio.

“I would particularly like to choose Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number 24 in C Minor,” he said to its haunting strains, a poignant epitaph to a unfulfilled woman who lived to see her children fulfil themselves.—Reuters