Born on 9 October 1947 – John Lennon’s seventh birthday - Sir
Roderic Victor Llewellyn (better known as ‘Roddy’) is a British baronet, garden
designer, journalist, author, and television presenter best known for his eight-year
relationship with Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, the younger sister of
the late Queen Elizabeth II.
They were introduced, at the Café Royal in Edinburgh in
1973, by Lady Anne Glenconner. At the time, Roddy was a gardener and, at 25
years old, a full 17 years younger than the princess.
The much-publicised relationship was a factor in
the dissolution of the princess's marriage to the Earl of Snowdon. In 1976,
photographs of Roddy and Margaret in Mustique appeared in the press, and Roddy
was outed as Margaret’s ‘toy boy’. Llewellyn issued a public statement, saying
that ‘I much regret any embarrassment caused to Her Majesty the Queen and the
royal family, for whom I wish to express the greatest respect, admiration and
loyalty’.
The Queen was not happy, according to Princess Margaret’s
authorized biographer, Christopher Warwick, who said that ‘The Queen didn’t
approve of Roddy or of the relationship, and she thought that in all of this
Roddy business, her sister was behaving badly.’ However, Lady Glenconner would
later tell Vanity Fair that, ‘After Princess Margaret’s funeral, the
Queen, she said, ‘I’d just like to say, Anne, it was rather difficult at
moments, but I thank you so much [for] introducing Princess Margaret to Roddy
’cause he made her really happy.’ Personally, I find it difficult to believe
that our later monarch would say ‘’Cause’, but there you have it.
At the height of their eight-year relationship, Roddy was
persuaded to spend a few days in a recording studio. The results were issued as
Roddy by Philips in 1978. According to the note, in Roddy’s own
handwriting, on the reverse of the sleeve, ‘Like lots of other people I have
always wanted to make a record, and I feel very fortunate to have now done
this. We all had a lot of fun recording the album – hope you enjoy it too.’
He may have ‘always wanted to make a record’, but there
should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that he would not have had he not been at
the centre of a high-profile scandal. Musically, it’s slick, synthy,
lightweight stuff, but the simple fact is that Llewellyn cannot sing. There’s a
difference between bumbling through a few bars of a song at home and standing
in front of a microphone in a professional studio, attempting to cut a hit
recording. The voice is too mannered, too thin and too flat. I’m sure he did
have ‘a lot of fun’, and today, with a little touch of autotune and a more
forgiving backing, he might have gotten away with it, but when you’re crooning
along to what is essentially the soundtrack to a seventies sitcom there’s no
room to hide.
Produced by Tony Eyers, who specialised in recording
musak-versions of standards for the foreign market (including Reggae Music
Played By Tony Eyers, and Tony Eyers Plays Beach Boys, both issued
in Sweden in 1977) but will be best known for writing I’m On Fire, a
hit for 5,000 Volts, featuring the voice (if not the face) of Tina Charles.
By the beginning of 1981, Roddy and Margaret were through
and, on 11 July 1981, Llewellyn married Tatiana Soskin, a daughter of film
producer Paul Soskin. The couple have three daughters, Alexandra, Natasha, and
Rosie.
In 2009 Roddy succeeded his elder brother David (better
known as ‘Dai’), to the Llewellyn baronetcy. Roddy and Dai had a difficult
relationship, and barely spoke to each other after the elder Llewellyn talked
to newspapers about his brother’s relationship with a royal. 25 years after his
relationship with Margaret had ended, Roddy Llewellyn told the Daily Mail
that he still could not bring himself to forgive his brother’s ‘betrayal’. Dai
dismissed him as a ‘snob and a resentful, chippy little twerp’, but the
brothers were reconciled shortly before Dai’s death.
Now aged 75, he’s still working and he’s still singing.
Apparently, when he went to meet actor Helena Bonham Carter, while she was preparing
to play Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series The Crown, ‘He
started singing a song in my kitchen,’ she revealed to the Sunday Times.
‘He came to tea with me and Harry [Treadaway], who plays Roddy. He was so fun
and warm — that’s what she needed. He’s very musical.’ Well, I’ll leave you to
make up your own minds there, with a couple of tracks from Roddy: Missing
Her Again and Crazy World.
Enjoy!
Download Missing HERE
Download Crazy HERE