Princess Margaret Recovering From Minor Stroke

S A N D R I N G H A M, England, Jan. 7, 2001 -- Princess Margaret’s health is improving after suffering what doctors believed was a minor stroke, her sister Queen Elizabeth II said today.

Speaking to an elderly woman after services at St. Mary MagdalenChurch, the queen said her younger sister was “getting better.”

The 70-year-old princess had been in bed at the royal family’sSandringham estate over the holidays.

Margaret, a headstrong woman whose life of privilege has been marred by ill-health, thwarted love and whiffs of scandal, was absent from church onChristmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Buckingham Palace revealed the possibility of a stroke onWednesday, adding that Margaret’s life was not in danger and thatmedical tests were continuing.

The queen’s only sister has been dogged by health problems forseveral years. She suffered serious burns to her legs and feet inan accident on the Caribbean island of Mustique in 1999. Theprevious year she suffered a mild stroke.

In 1985, the princess was admitted to hospital complaining ofchest pains and had a piece of her left lung removed.