Althouse: "Princess Margaret finally dropped [Peter] Sellers after... Sellers had already married and divorced a third wife, Miranda Quarry, and had become too volatile..."

December 16, 2018

"Princess Margaret finally dropped [Peter] Sellers after... Sellers had already married and divorced a third wife, Miranda Quarry, and had become too volatile..."

"... to remain an acceptable royal escort; in the middle of a row with Quarry over the correct way to pass the port, he had let off steam by releasing all her pet birds from their cages and hitting them around the room with a tennis racquet."

From "Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret" by Craig Brown. I'm enjoying this book but it's disturbing my comfortable appreciation of Peter Sellers.

39 comments:

David Begley said...: Sellers died at age 54.; 12/16/18, 5:21 PM
rehajm said...: Margaret is compelling to me only because of her portrayl by Vanessa Kirby. Helena Bonham Carter will probably end that.; 12/16/18, 5:43 PM
rehajm said...: a; 12/16/18, 5:44 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "The most sixties of the Snowdon inner circle was Peter Sellers, the comic actor whose extraordinary talent for mimicry seemed to have invaded his body, depriving him of a fixed accent, or even a fixed character. This allowed him to be whoever he wished to be, but with no way home. Himself something of a chameleon, Snowdon was mesmerised by Sellers, and in turn Sellers was, in the words of the screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz, ‘completely obsessed with royalty. He was always going on about Princess Margaret. His biggest thrill was to present people to her.’. ....Shortly after the divorce of Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland in December 1968,2 Sellers was looking around for a suitable Christmas present for the Snowdon children. His eyes lit on Buttercup, a pony belonging to Victoria, his three-year-old daughter by Britt. Later the same day, Buttercup was delivered in a horsebox to Kensington Palace. Victoria never saw her again. She was heartbroken ‘She loved Buttercup beyond anything else,’ recalled Britt."

Brown, Craig. Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret (p. 228). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.; 12/16/18, 6:06 PM
Robert Cook said...: Accounts by those who knew him best say Sellers could be a monstrous person.; 12/16/18, 6:07 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Here's a picture of Peter Sellers with Britt Ekland.; 12/16/18, 6:11 PM
stephen cooper said...: Yes if he hit innocent birds with a tennis racquet - then he is beneath contempt. If this story is true, maybe he thought he was just being "intense" but he was wrong, he was being evil.

Such are the lessons of history.

At lunch this week with some friends, one of them described the beautiful Christmas themed lights and decorations - truly beautiful - at Mount Vernon (she had visited last year, at Yuletide).

I explained to my friend that I consider Washington to be no patriot, an oath-breaker, and someone who will never be as good an American as lots of my friends.

I also said that, if I were at Mount Vernon, watching the Christmas show, I would not say a word about what I really know about Washington. Because, more or less, all politicians, with a few exceptions, are either criminals or have no problem with failing to discourage criminal sociopaths, as long as the sociopaths agree with them. But that is no way to live! (I explained to her why I thought Trump is a much better person on this parameter than, say, Obama or Clinton ... we are friends, and she was not offended, although I am not sure she agreed with me.....)

Anyway, I expect little from "movie stars", but even as cynical as I am, I hope that Sellers did not attack innocent birds that way.
If he did, he flirted with, and apparently embraced, evil, and we need to pray for the soul of the evildoer.; 12/16/18, 6:11 PM
fivewheels said...: I don't care a whit about royalty or other celebrities, but I'm kind of dying to know what the right and wrong ways to pass the port are. I bet the book doesn't even tell you.; 12/16/18, 6:13 PM
Ann Althouse said...: From some years later, here's a picture of Britt Ekland with the adult Victoria Sellers.; 12/16/18, 6:13 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "I don't care a whit about royalty or other celebrities, but I'm kind of dying to know what the right and wrong ways to pass the port are. I bet the book doesn't even tell you"

I'm not seeing it in the book but here's this from The Gentleman's Journal:

How should you pass around a bottle of Port?

The rituals are most apparent when it comes to how to serve Port, so listen up gents. Tradition dictates that the Port decanter should be placed on the table to the right of the host or hostess. It is then passed to the left, going clockwise around the table until it comes to rest at its starting point.

Port is never passed across the table or back on itself – it’s only to the left. There are several theories as to why this is:

Historically, to keep one’s sword arm free
In the Royal Navy, the rule was ‘port to port’, i.e. ‘all the way around’
To simply ensure it’s shared fairly and no one misses out; 12/16/18, 6:15 PM
Rob said...: Fifty years after Sellers hit the birds with his tennis racket, it's still ruffling Ann's feathers.; 12/16/18, 6:27 PM
Clyde said...: If you passed Port to the right, it would be Starboard.; 12/16/18, 6:39 PM
Michael The Magnificent said...: "I thought you said your dog does not bite!"

"That is not my dog."; 12/16/18, 6:48 PM
JackWayne said...: One person’s volatile is another person’s crazy.; 12/16/18, 6:51 PM
Ralph L said...: "Larboard sounds similar to starboard and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered that port be used instead"

Which came first: the Royal Navy passing it to the left because it's called port, or calling left "port" because it's passed that way?

Actually, Wiki says port was used because that's the side that was normally against the dock.; 12/16/18, 6:56 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Sorry-- it was a badminton racquet, and you know what you hit with those.; 12/16/18, 7:00 PM
Big Mike said...: I know a number of women who would respond to their husband hitting their pets — especially delicate ones like birds! — with a tennis racquet by giving him a .38 caliber headache. Difference between a strong American woman and a weak European.; 12/16/18, 7:04 PM
gspencer said...: "You [Sellers] gonna let that lousy Commie punk vomit all over us like this? No offense, sir, but are you aware of what a serious breach of security that would be?! I mean, he'll see everything! He'll see the big board!"; 12/16/18, 7:12 PM
bagoh20 said...: Just read his extensive Wikipedia page. I had no idea he was such a hot mess.; 12/16/18, 7:57 PM
William said...: I like his movies. I'll not do any further research into what a piece of crap he was. Just as a philosophical question, how fucked up does an actor have to be before you stop enjoying their performances. Sellers is just on that edge. Did anyone retain fond memories. Of John Wilkes Booth's interpretation of Macbeth despite the later developments of his life?..........The BBC treats Queen Elizabeth (and her grand mum Victoria) with surprising tact and admiration. I found it kind of surprising, but I guess the Crown like the BBC are parts of the establishment, and they find it convenient to be supportive of each other, They can always work off a little steam by pissing on Maggie Thatcher or even Churchill.; 12/16/18, 8:36 PM
Spiros Pappas said...: Oh my God, I thought Peter Sellers was a cool dude.; 12/16/18, 8:47 PM
Jupiter said...: Hey, get over it. I hate to tell you, but shotguns are actually designed for the purpose of blasting innocent birds out of the sky. So is your cat, for that matter.; 12/16/18, 9:36 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/16/18, 9:44 PM
FIDO said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/16/18, 10:09 PM
FIDO said...: I go with the Bill Burr Forensics Diagnostic Questions at these kind of episodes

To wit: if someone comes into an emergency room with a rattlesnake bite on their face, there are a few relevant questions to ask this person as to how they came to such a juncture.

Because men, like rattlesnakes, do not have a proclivity to just punch people or birds randomly. It is amazing how many men I see in a given day who are NOT hitting birds with tennis racquets. It just doesn't happen.

It is an aspect of my 'cruel neutrality'.

Was the rattlesnake high?

Was the rattlesnake crazy?

Or...totally out of left field considering the nature of the injury to be sure...where you PROVOKING it to attack by talking about how much better you are than a silly little common tit who doesn't have the slightest knowledge of any kind of good society and he should just piss off and make another plebian film? (rattlesnakes are sensitive that way)

I'm a fair guy. I am open to any of those answers...but somehow it is, in Feminist eyes, a rather rude and unworthy question because they want immunity from any negative consequence of their actions. Even if they are actively working to elicit pain and anger from a rattlesnake.

I doubt very much she is showing a lot of introspection, but I will have to take that on faith because I won't read the book.; 12/16/18, 10:15 PM
stephen cooper said...: FIDO -
Sellers was not plebeian. He was a member of the elite from the day he was born.

He hurt those birds, if he indeed hurt those birds (none of us were there) , for non-plebeian reasons.

one does not want one's daughter being involved with people who harm innocent birds because they are PROVOKED.

or, if one is fortunate enough to have a son, one does not want one's son involved with such people.

Let us be kind to birds, and let us call out each other when we fail to follow the basic rule that

you do not hurt innocent animals, ever.; 12/16/18, 10:21 PM
Amexpat said...: The info about PS comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen the excellent movie, The Life and Times of Peter Sellers. Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of PS is great.; 12/16/18, 10:31 PM
Michael said...: Read that book. Great read. Sad life.; 12/16/18, 10:49 PM
Bricap said...: Long live the Bishop of Norwich!; 12/17/18, 9:48 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: you do not hurt innocent animals, ever.

12/16/18, 10:21 PM

But Stephen... How do you know your steak was guilty?; 12/17/18, 9:52 AM
Rick.T. said...: Michael The Magnificent said...

"I thought you said your dog does not bite!"

"That is not my dog."

I've used that many, may times over my career as a consultant illustrating the importance of asking the right question.; 12/17/18, 10:39 AM
Rick.T. said...: Seems like Peter Sellers was pretty much within parameters of Hollywood whackdoodle. Can't recall many beyond the likes of Jimmy Stewart and Fred MacMurray - Madison, Wi boy BTW - whom we would recognize as leading "normal" lives.; 12/17/18, 10:54 AM
Bill Peschel said...: Many actors and comedians are like that, it seems. People who are so empty that they only come alive when fulfilling a role.

Sid Caesar comes to mind. Near the end of his life, he was among many giving an eulogy for a fellow celeb. At the podium, he fell silent, unable to express his emotions.

Mel Brooks yelled out, "Sid! Do it in German!"

Sid woke up as if electrified, and proceeded to give his speech in mock-German.

Many actors and comedians are seriously damaged. And yet we're supposed to listen to their opinions and beliefs.; 12/17/18, 12:13 PM
Nicholas said...: As a Brit, I should point out that Craig Brown is a well-known and brilliant satirist here, so one might not want to take everything in the book as the literal truth.

And yes, you do pass the port to the left, but the port only comes out when the ladies have retired to the drawing room and the gentlemen are alone.; 12/17/18, 12:42 PM
gblanch said...: Ann: I knew Peter Sellers in London in the early 70's. He was always funny, charming, and
generous. Once when we were having lunch at some Italian trattoria he had attracted a large crowd
of folks who ended up sitting with us. He was happy to entertain. As we left the restaurant he took my
arm to make it appear we were close. As the flashbulbs went off he said to me: "you'll be famous tomorrow."
I said something like "christ, that's the last thing I need." For the time I was around him he was a always a
gentleman. I don't recall him being very athletic so the tennis racquet story seems off.; 12/17/18, 2:55 PM
PM said...: Yes to all that, but did Ms Quarry, henceforth, understand how to pass port correctly?; 12/17/18, 4:08 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @gblanch

Nice story!

"I don't recall him being very athletic so the tennis racquet story seems off."

For some reason that makes me think of "right in the boxing glove" in "Lolita."; 12/17/18, 5:09 PM
dustbunny said...: He was a brilliant actor, it seems as though his unstable psyche was intrinsic to his unusual talents. The current fashion to destroy past artists for failing to conform to correct behavior is increasingly tedious and probably disastrous. Fred Mcmurray and Jimmy Stewart were probably more stable but also less brilliant. Hard to think of another actor past or present capable of performing the three disparate roles in Dr Strangelove so iconically as Sellers. It is as a great artist he should be judged. The rest is just, at this point, gossip.; 12/17/18, 6:18 PM
FIDO said...: Stephen Cooper

I would prefer he hurt the animals than the woman.

But you miss my point: there is this meme among women, but particularly Feminists, that a woman is allowed to provoke, anger, humiliate and insult a man to the point of insanity and the woman should be 100% immune from her actions.

This belief is both stupid and immoral.

Am I asserting that Sellers is not high or crazy? Not a bit. But in the eyes of some women, being high or crazy would be mitigating factors where some woman blatantly provoking him for her amusement or satisfaction would not.

I am shining light on the possibility that the 'Magical' Princess Margret might have been just as complicit in the clearly toxic relationship. When men engage in irrational and violent behavior, how about we ask a few uncomfortable questions at how this happened.

Except Margret has a publicist.; 12/18/18, 6:46 AM