Was Princess Margaret a royal rebel or the victim of an unfulfilling station? Whatever conclusion we draw, she remains arguably the most interesting member of the British royal family.

As second in line to the throne for many years, Margaret was born with every possible advantage - beauty, vivacity, intelligence, wealth and position. Yet her nature, as one intimate has put it, "was to make everything go wrong." She has been described as tragic, unresolved, a royal maverick, a woman of conflict, a princess without a cause.

Her private life has been racked by scandal; it has been a catalogue of unhappy, unfulfilled and unsuitable relationships. Her many good points have been submerged in an avalanche of criticism. Dauntingly royal yet defiantly unorthodox, Princess Margaret has spent the greater part of her life torn between meeting the exacting standards of the monarchy and flouting its long-established conventions.

Princess Margaret: A Biography is the first detailed, in-depth study of this controversial figure, written by a respected royal biographer.