These pages are dedicated to Princess Margaret. She is much loved and will always be remembered for her love of life and her heart for other people.

Margaret ever so gently stopped breathing on the 22nd of May 2022, surrounded by people she loved. Known to all as “Princess” Margaret, or simply ‘HRH’ for short, she endured a childhood of poverty and neglect in 1950’s inner city Manchester. It was there, at the age of 7, that she first encountered her lifelong friend and guide, Jesus.
Rising above all the disadvantages that life had thrown in her way, as she grew into adulthood her defining characteristic developed – an all-encompassing compassion for those battered by the storms of life, especially children. “Margaret’s waifs and strays” became a common phrase as she befriended the hurting and lost people she encountered, and it has left its mark on her own family as they have inherited many of her caring characteristics.
In 2007 Margaret was diagnosed with Grade IV Breast Cancer and given a life expectancy of no more than five years. She faced surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy with a quiet determination and cheerfulness. The treatment left her disabled and unable to walk. Her strength of spirit, sustained by the prayers of those around her, brought her back to a place where she could again enjoy her life and, as always, concentrate on other people less fortunate than she was. In 2013, just a little over the five years she had been given, her oncologist declared her “cancer free” and released her from and further treatments or monitoring.
In 2015, she was diagnosed again with a new different type of breast cancer. This one, just the size of a grain of rice, had already spread when it was discovered and Margaret was given a life expectancy of 3-6 months. Just six months later, on Christmas Day of that year, she was in hospital, critically ill with pneumonia and pulmonary embolisms and the children had all visited to say their goodbyes. In typical Margaret fashion she asked the doctors to let her go home, though she knew what that meant. As I drove her home that afternoon she asked me to take her to meet the family where they had all gathered at Butlins instead of the usual gathering at “Grandmas” for Christmas. She clung on to life and fought and clawed her way back from that low point and enjoyed a further six years of life, achieving many milestones we never expected to enjoy together.
In January this year her already poor health started to decline once more and we received the news we had feared. The cancer, held at bay for so long, was on the move again. The oncologist reported there was nothing more they could do and Margarets response was typical – “We’ll cry together, we’ll laugh when we can and we’ll enjoy whatever time we have left together”
That time came to an end at eighteen minutes past seven on Sunday evening when she gently and peacefully took her last breath and went ahead of us to heaven. She leaves a huge hole in all of our hearts but has left an indelible mark on all of our lives.
She called herself a Princess because she was the daughter of the Great High King of heaven and she lost no opportunity to let people know it and to tell them that they were as special as she was.
We will miss her.