How Kate Middleton’s Favorite Holiday Spot Was Transformed By Princess Margaret’s Lady-In-Waiting

Kate Middleton’s favorite holiday spot was transformed into a paradise by Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge love holidaying in Mustique. However, years ago, the island was not as glamorous as it is today.

Lady Anne Glenconner revealed in her book “Lady in Waiting” how her husband Lord Colin Glenconner sailed around the island and bought it for $55,333. When he purchased it, there was no running water and electricity. It was also used to grow cotton.

“Only about a dozen acres were under cultivation, growing cotton,” Lady Glenconner wrote. “The rest of the island’s 1,300 acres or so were frazzled to a crisp.”

“When Colin turned to me and asked what I thought, I didn’t hold back. ‘Colin,’ I said, ‘this is sheer madness!’” she continued.

“He looked at me. ‘You mark my words, Anne,’ he said defiantly. ‘I will make Mustique a household name.’”

Lady Glenconner added that in the early years, “it was only the bravest of friends” who visited the place and among them was Princess Margaret. Queen Elizabeth II’s sister and her husband Tony Armstrong-Jones married in 1960 and set off on a six-month tour to the Caribbean on the Royal Yacht Britannia and made their way to Mustique. Lord Glenconner gave the royal a plot of land and built her a house on the island.

Mustique has since become a private paradise for rich and famous individuals including royals. In July, Prince William and Middleton took their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to the paradise island.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent $33,000 a week for a luxury villa in the island. The royal stayed at Villa Antilles for two weeks where they also celebrated Prince George’s sixth birthday.

Since Mustique is among the royals’ favorite holiday vacation spot, they are often seen enjoying their summer in the island. However, the place was also the setting of Princess Margaret’s scandal that ended her marriage with Armstrong-Jones in the 1970s.

Princess Margaret was photographed with 27-year-old Roddy Llewellyn in Mustique. The 44-year-old royal’s photos with Llewellyn “sent the press into a frenzy” when they resurfaced in 1976.