The night Jack Nicholson allegedly offered Princess Margaret a bump of cocaine
One of the most outrageous actors in modern cinema, Jack Nicholson, has enjoyed a storied life both on and off the movie set. The One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest star was notorious for his lofty libido as well as his insatiable thirst for narcotics and booze. He was the archetypal Hollywood hellraiser and still operates as a curiosity of a bygone era today. It seems his wild antics have touched many people’s lives, including the remote regal reaches of royalty.
Nicholson has never been afraid of discussing his penchant for drugs—perhaps there are simply too many stories to quash. Still, one moment would almost cost the Hollywood star his neck. The actor might have suffered anger management issues and reportedly took a golf club to the windscreen of a sports car, prompting an inspired scene in Mulholland Drive. He might have also bitterly feuded with Miloš Forman to the point that he no longer talked to the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest director, but it was rubbing shoulders with Princess Margarett that almost proved his most costly move.
Usually, the A-lister has always managed to toe the line between graceful and disgraceful. His openness about his former mishaps has imbued him with a Buddhist Zen-like glow. The actor even once enjoyed a boat trip about which he was open about his drug use with his children, telling People: “Last year on a raft trip I had a little flavour of the season—peach mescaline—but it was not like the hallucinatory state of the ’60s. This was just kind of sunny. I don’t advocate anything for anybody. But I choose always to be candid because I don’t like the closet atmosphere of drugging.”
In blunt terms, the 87-year-old thespian put it: “In other words, it ain’t no big thing. You can wreck yourself with it, but Christ, you can wreck yourself with anything.”
These kinds of comments lead you to believe there aren’t many Jack Nicholson stories that you’re shocked by nowadays and certainly none that don’t have at least a degree of truth to them, no matter how outlandish they may seem. Stories of the great actor’s off-set antics have been swirling around Hollywood for decades. But while drunken escapades and sexual acts on the hood of a car are by the by, one ‘classic Jack’ moment could have seen the Oscar winner in serious trouble.
In Brian Kellow’s biography of Sue Mengers, a widely regarded behemoth of the Hollywood agent industry, Kellow describes a scene in which Mengers is hosting a lavish party in her Beverly Hills home back in 1979. During that time the late Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret, often frequented the sunny climes of Los Angeles and while in the area, she was invited to the party. Why wouldn’t you extend an invite if you could?
The royal accepted. Nicholson was also at the party with his longtime girlfriend, Anjelica Houston. He was unperturbed by the apparent presence of a Princess and went about his business as usual. At one point, the potentially disastrous decision was undertaken to introduce him to Her Royal Highness.
There’s a lot of protocol that goes into meeting a royal: when to bow, when to curtsy, how to address them properly without causing offence, and not offering them drugs pretty much goes without saying. The Shining star wasn’t privy to this protocol and went about things his own way. Without a curtsy in sight, instead, Jack Nicholson allegedly offered her a bump of cocaine “in a bid to get to know her better”, which, in the 1970s, wasn’t too far from a commonality.
Naturally, Princess Margaret declined the invitation and moved on. Mengers was reportedly furious with Nicholson for this unforgivable indiscretion. Though it was almost certainly a joke from the actor, in the super agent’s eyes, it had ruined her chances of ever being invited to Buckingham Palace, a place she longed to visit. However, Princess Margaret was not deterred.
Instead, she moved through the party with consummate ease, apparently not moved by Nicholson’s joke. The Princess even stayed for most of the party, sharing drinks and frolics with Farrah Fawcett, Sean Connery, Robin Williams, and more until the early morning. The revellers even recall that she even danced repeatedly with Saturday Night Fever and Grease star John Travolta—a tricky man to match on the floor.
That may well have been the lasting memory of most of the party attendees: Danny Zuko dancing with a royal. But our thoughts turn to a sniggering Jack Nicholson, likely still reeling from his joke and already looking forward to re-telling it, not a hint of fear that he might be accosted by one of the Princess’ watchful eyes–just another anecdote for the arsenal in the life of the professional partier.
Alas, as Nicholson says: “Acting is everybody’s favourite second job.”
