Marion Crawford was governess to the Queen and Princess Margaret for 17 years. When she joined them in 1932 they were princesses aged six and two. By the time she left they were grown-up women; Elizabeth married and the mother of Prince Charles.

‘Crawfie’ (as they fondly called her) never became a mother herself. Her private life was put on hold during her royal service and when she left in 1949, it was too late. A year later she published The Little Princesses, a loving, admiring memoir of her time with the Windsors.

This book literally fell at my feet