The Royal Rebel
When her father, George VI, died Princess Margaret (Lucy Cohu) had hoped she would soon marry war hero Group Captain Peter Townsend (Aden Gillett) and their romance was the talk of the nation. Unfortunately for Margaret it is made clear in more ways than one that as the Queen's sister she can't marry the previously married and Townsend and if she does she will be cut out of the Civil List. Now free and single Margaret embraces a party lifestyle and intentionally sets out to cause a stir with her rebellious, fun loving antics. Eventually though she marries, photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones (Toby Stephens) and even starts a family. But old habits die hard and still loving the party lifestyle her marriage becomes strained especially following the death of a lover and more headlines when it comes to the men she hangs out with.
Ignore briefly the fact that "The Queen's Sister" is about a member of the royal family and what you have is a tale of a woman who have been forbidden from marrying the man she loved went off the rails, enjoying a rebellious party lifestyle which even after settling down to marriage caused further issues. "The Queen's Sister" is as simple as that and to be honest the whole royal side of the movie rarely presents itself with instead most of the focus being on how princess Margaret enjoyed the social scene and seemed to crave a more regular fun life rather than one full of rules.
But of course "The Queen's Sister" is about a member of the royal family and it has to be said the movie starts by telling us that this unauthorized biopic is partly based on fact and some isn't. As such you have to say that this is one movie which aims to entertain partly through princess Margaret's larger than life lifestyle, sneaking in to pubs, kissing another woman in public and plenty more and it certainly achieves it. But at the same time there is the other side with Margaret having to deal with the rules of being a royal and anti royalist politicians who wish to spoil her plans. The mix works as it is entertaining but at the same time establishing Margaret's nature and how you could say that for those in her life she was a handful especially Anthony who not only had to deal with Margaret but also royal protocol.
What is clear is that "The Queen's Sister" rests firmly on the shoulders of Lucy Cohu and whilst I don't know how authentic her performance is to the real princess Margaret she does make the movie. It is Cohu who brings to life the party girl side of the character but allowing moments of depth to show through to establish her relationship to her sister as well as Prince Philip.
What this all boils down to is that "The Queen's Sister" ends up an entertaining curiosity as whilst I would say it has been inspired by the life of princess Margaret its focus is heavily on the entertainment factor of princess Margaret having a hedonistic, party loving side.
