'Margaret: The Rebel Princess' Review

PBS' newest special Margaret: The Rebel Princess is a biography diving into the life of the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II.

You know a show is peaking in popularity when it is used as a lead-in for other related programming viewed as needing a leg up. Downton Abbey held this spot for years on the PBS calendar, and now Victoria is following suit. Victoria & Albert: The Wedding aired after the first two episodes of Season 3, a series that at least had the benefit of being a thematic pairing. PBS' second roayl history-focused two-parter which air on consecutive Sundays starting this weekend, is a little more modern. The subject this time is the late Princess Margaret Rose, Countess of Snowdon who passed away in 2002.

It is unfortunate for PBS that Netflix had to delay The Crown Season 3 which, had it followed the same release schedule as Season 2, would currently be driving peak interest around its subjects, such as Margaret and her disastrous marriage. But Victoria at least has the Princess Feodora plotline this season (such as it is), focusing on the bond between the Queen of England and a sister who would never be equal. Margaret's tale is merely the modern version of the same relationship, particularly how one survives growing up inside the PR machinery of The Palace (much of which was created during Victoria's reign) when one will never be the principal subject.