This engaging documentary about Colin Tennant, native Scottish aristocrat and friend of Princess Margaret reveals one previously untold story about the underside of the workings in the jet set world of the rich and famous. At least that was the recurring thought I had while watching the filmmakers follow Tennant, or Lord Glenconner, as he prefers to call himself. This is a very interesting glimpse into what went on before the princess arrived, before Mick and Bianca joined other celebrities, royals and the independently wealthy. Before being viewed as high profile, few assembled in the 1970's to make the Caribbean their private playground.
Princess Margaret of Britain, sister of the present Queen Elizabeth, was in those days a high priestess of this set. These are folks who seemingly existed simply to set trends, have fun, see and be seen by those who counted. With her sponsorship, Colin Tennent purchased the island of Mustique with the family fortune and proceeded to make it a proper place to court and entertain in style. He built a proper party house where the princess was his frequent visitor and he boasts he once "had 48 consecutive meals with her." When one of the filmmakers asks if he didn't run out of things to say, he replies, "Well, yes. That was one of the problems, you see."
One other problem was running out of money to keep this island kingdom growing and thriving under his total control. He had to first take on a partner, then attract other investors. When they understandably (though not so to Colin) wanted a say in how things happened on the island, he was eventually squeezed out and left Mustique.
Much of what we see here takes place during a recent return visit to the island where he hopes to be treated as somewhat of an elder statesman or founding father. While he does have a certain charm, and some of the islanders give him the respect he feels he is due, others are .com millionaires who regard him as a local curiosity cum tourist attraction. To them he is hosting a comeback lunch once again for an aging Princess Margaret and they have come by for a look.
He becomes annoyed and rude to those he sees as interfering in his carefully set plan of not only what this final lunch will be, but also what he wishes to allow the cameras and microphones to capture of his own carefully orchestrated persona. It becomes clear that just as he could not keep control of Mustique some 30 years ago, he cannot control and manipulate the ultimate shape of this movie.
Although he is not treated unkindly by the camera, time, or the people, he seems to be his own worst enemy by saying and doing things that punctuate his basic self-absorption and dissatisfaction with the turns his life his taken. He appears to believe that being brought up well excuses his bad behavior. Photographer Lord Lichfield is one of those who shared that Camelot-like past as an insider and remains a dependable friend. His loyal wife, Anne, who prefers to spend only limited time with him, sums it up by saying that he just doesn't seem to understand that people do mind being treated badly.
It seemed ironic to me that the only recognition he receives for putting Mustique on the map comes at a rather sweet reception given in his honor at the local church. The attendees are mostly the native islanders whose role in Tennent's build-up of the island is to clean the rooms, polish the silver, and set up the party tents. As one man explains it, he understands that people are not perfect and so he forgives Tennant his defects.
DVD