By Steve Kurczy

Staff Writer

Princess Margaret, the younger sister to Queen Elizabeth II, died Saturday morning in London. She was 71.

Described as loyal, lively and often unpredictable, Princess Margaret could be described as the Diana of her day.

Admirers spoke warmly of her personal generosity, loyalty to the queen and to her friends and her irreverent sense of fun, while critics complained of her extravagant style and lack of duty.

Attractive and fun loving, her life reflects a character easily bored and often petulant. She indulged in her moods, which in 1965 British Journalist Charles Hussey described as ranging from ``a gaiety that was sometimes febrile'' to ``Hanoverian gloom.''

Born August 21, 1930, Princess Margaret Rose was raised in the shadows of sister Elizabeth who was being groomed for royal office.

As she grew up, the press often portrayed her as ``a glamorous, high-spirited young woman who delighted in trips to Paris and dancing through the night in fashionable London Clubs,'' said Joseph Gregory of the New York Times. Even Louis Armstrong, whose music she loved, once referred to her as ``one hip chick.'' She often went to the ballet and theatre, influencing her on a short directing experience.

Her 20s were wrapped in a romance with Group Capt. Peter Townsend of the Royal Air Force though very much frowned upon by the church and state because of Townsend's past divorce. Many, even Winston Churchill, then the Queen's private secretary, advised against allowing the marriage. Bowing to the demands of a moral code, and knowing if married without consent she would loose all royal rights and income, she put the church's teaching and her duty to the Commonwealth first.

``In my opinion this was the turning point to disaster for the royal family,'' said Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's Peerage. ``After Princess Margaret was denied marriage, it backfired and more or less ruined Margaret's life. The queen decided that from then on, anyone any member of her family wished to marry would be more or less acceptable. However, the royal family and the public now feel that they've gone to far in the other direction.''

In May of 1960, then 29, Margaret married Anthony Armstrong Jones.

She and the photographer had two children, now Lord Linley and Lady Sarah. As her intended marriage to Townsend was prevented by his divorce, it proved ironic then that her later marriage to Jones would the same way.

The princess did not remarry, but her relationships with men such as well known actor Peter Sellers and lesser known gardener Roderic Llewellyn, 17 years her junior, hurt her reputation.

But by then the Princess had no intention of letting the public in on her private life. She smoked heavily, had a penchant for Scotch, and soon began to spend more time in her Caribbean villa and away from the media.

Though a long-time contributor to organizations (at age 23 she became the president of the Royal Ballet, and some 80 other charities), her lack of public appearances soon created critics and complaints.

In the late 1990s she suffered a series of strokes that left her bedridden and paralyzed down the left side. Last Saturday, Prince Charles announced her death with remorse and sympathy.