Princess Margaret

© Cecil Beaton / Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Princess Margaret

by Cecil Beaton
bromide print, 1950
20 3/4 in. x 15 7/8 in. (527 mm x 403 mm)
Purchased, 1987
Primary Collection
NPG P349

Sitterback to top

  • Princess Margaret (1930-2002), Daughter of George VI; Countess of Snowdon. Sitter associated with 293 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), Photographer, designer and writer. Artist or producer associated with 1112 portraits, Sitter associated with 361 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This is the official portrait of Princess Margaret released on the occasion of her nineteenth birthday. This is one of a number of portraits taken at Buckingham Palace and Princess Margaret posed in a front of a variety of painted backdrops. In 1950, a book about the princess praised her fashion-sense, stating that she, 'probably sets more youthful fashions than any other teenager in the world.'

Linked publicationsback to top

Placesback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1950back to top

Current affairs

Princess Anne is born at Clarence house, the only daughter of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

Art and science

C.S. Lewis publishes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Lewis was an Oxford Don, specialising in Medieval Literature and its use of allegory. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is often seen as an allegory of the Christian struggle between good and evil.

International

Following the Soviet and American withdrawal from the occupation of North and South Korea respectively, the Korean War breaks out as each side seeks to unify Korea under its own political system. While the U.S.A., U.K and other UN nations came to the defence of South Korea, North Korea had support from the Soviet Union and China. The war continued until 1953.

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