Always the gentleman, the Rt. Hon. John N. Turner rarely spoke in detail of what may or may not have happened between himself and Princess Margaret on one of the latter’s visits to Canada in the 1950s. She famously danced with the dashing young Montreal lawyer while in Canada in 1958 and there was the outward appearance of a burgeoning interest between the pair. The newspapers loved the idea of a royal romance and gallons of ink were spilled writing about the supposed affair. But regardless of the all the attention, Turner wasn’t talking and Margaret later married another man.
But in 2015, when a batch of letters Princess Margaret wrote to an American friend were made public, the truth appeared. The Royal princess herself indicated that things grew very serious between the two. “John Turner is here & we meet on Thursday," Princess Margaret wrote. “It will seem so funny as we haven’t met since I nearly married him & he’s bringing his wife!"
Turner, however, still remained quiet, a gentleman to the end. He represented Canada at Princess Margaret’s funeral in 2002.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.