Some of what follows is based on fact, and some isn’t.
Margaret Lucy Cohu begins with a look at royal duty clashing with personal longing. When Archbishop Fisher Michael Elwyn blocks a religious wedding to war hero Peter Townsend, and her brother-in-law and confidant Prince Philip David Threlfall warns that a civil union could cost her material security, she makes the painful choice to end the relationship. The decision thrusts her into a public world of headlines and rumors, and she drifts into a hedonistic phase that keeps the press hungry and the palace on edge. The drama paints a portrait of a woman torn between tradition and desire, and the scrutiny that follows every move.
At a glittering party, a new connection catches her eye: Tony Armstrong-Jones Toby Stephens, an ambitious but financially strained photographer. Their initial flirtation gives way to a secret pattern of meetings in his modest flat, where moments of closeness contrast with the cold glare of a society that wants to believe in a fairytale marriage. When their relationship becomes public, they wed in an opulent ceremony that is praised by admirers of the modern monarchy and criticized by politicians and ordinary people who question the sum spent on the celebration while the country faces economic strain. The wedding seems to embody a new, dazzling form of royal spectacle, even as private tensions simmer beneath the surface.
The marriage soon strains under the weight of excess, with Margaret’s growing inclination toward heavy drinking and Tony’s indiscreet womanizing turning the relationship into a push-pull dynamic. He eventually moves out, and a sensational incident involving a pianist from a frequented restaurant forces the couple to confront their reality in the glare of the cameras. They attempt a show of unity by retreating to a private hideaway in Mustique, hoping to weather the storm, but the image of a lavish, isolated lifestyle in the tropics refuels public critique and invites renewed scrutiny.
Seeking respite from the spotlight, Margaret travels to the country home of her friends Rachel Burke Caroline Harker and her partner Curly, where she crosses paths with Roddy Llewellyn Simon Woods, a younger aspiring artist with his own ambitions. The era’s shadow grows heavier with news that Robin Douglas-Home, with whom she once had a highly publicized affair, has died by suicide, a trauma that ripples through the circles around her. Roddy suggests she stay with him at his cottage, hoping for privacy, but a persistent photographer captures an embrace that fuels another round of tabloid condemnation. Amid the upheaval, Tony announces plans to divorce, signaling a permanent fracture in a union once celebrated as a symbol of modern romance.
Margaret’s spiral continues as drinking, drug use, and deepening depression take their toll, culminating in a prolonged hospital stay described as exhaustion. Released from the hospital, she returns to Roddy, who reveals he is planning to marry a housemate, an event that further unsettles her sense of belonging and purpose. With pressures mounting and the public’s appetite for scandal unabated, she leaves for Mustique once more, a solitary figure weathering the storm of fame and longing. The film closes with a poignant image of her standing in the surf, eyes fixed on an uncertain future, the weight of the years behind her and the unknown ahead.
