The Princess Margaret and the The Gangster: John Bindon
John Dennis "Biffo" Bindon (4 October 1943 – 10 October 1993) was an English actor and bodyguard who had close links with the London underworld. The son of a London cab driver, Bindon was frequently in trouble as a youth for getting into fights, and spent two periods in borstal. He was spotted in a London pub by Ken Loach, who asked him to star in his film Poor Cow (1967).
Other film and television productions followed, with Bindon sought after to play gangsters or tough police detectives. He played a violent mobster alongside Mick Jagger in Performance (1970) and a London crime boss in Get Carter (1971). Philip Hoare described Bindon as "the archetypal actor-villain, and an all-round 'good geezer'".
He was also known for having many socialite girlfriends, such as Christine Keeler, the former Playboy "Bunny Girl" Serena Williams and Vicki Hodge, who had a 12-year abusive relationship with Bindon. Through Hodge, Bindon gained access to British aristocratic circles, which culminated with his meeting Princess Margaret in the late 1960s, at her home on Mustique in the Caribbean. Bindon claimed he had sex with the princess, whilst Margaret later denied the meeting ever took place despite photographic evidence.
Bindon lived his hard man persona on and off screen. He was believed to be running protection rackets in west London pubs and was alleged to have connections to the Kray twins and the Richardson Gang. In the late 1970s in addition to acting work he provided security for actors and musicians, most notoriously for Led Zeppelin on their 1977 US tour, where he was sacked for brawling backstage.
In 1978 Bindon was tried for the murder of London gangster Johnny Darke. Bindon pleaded self-defence and was acquitted, but the case damaged his reputation, and this coupled with being seen as difficult to work with by directors meant his acting career declined. In the 1980s Bindon became reclusive; he died in 1993 from AIDS related cancer.
The Secret Lives of Princess Margaret (1997)
Princess Margaret has had a low royal profile for nearly 20 years. At 66 her life provides few headlines. But recently she stepped back into the spotlight with a stinging rebuke to the Duchess of York. In a letter she told her
Not once have you hung your head in embarrassment. Clearly you have never considered the damage you have caused us all. How dare you discredit us like this, and how dare you send me those flowers!
But Margaret had herself already tarnished the royal image. When she returned from Mustique in 1976 she was in disgrace because she had been exposed by the press with a lover 17 years her junior. It was she who was the first member of the house of Windsor to divorce. She who was the first to be publicly criticised. Margaret has at times wanted to be the most royal of the royals at others a rebel. Her life has been spent trying to resolve these contradictions.
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| Princess Margaret’s morning routine c 1955 |
Margaret's life of excess, cruelty, desire, passion and self-abuse caught up with her. This is her at 70, just 6 months before her death:
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