Princess Margaret looks just like a royal relative who shared her taste for the finer things - but are allegations she was an 'upmarket kleptomaniac' accurate?

Princess Margaret's royal relative, who looked more like her than her own sister, was her beloved grandmother - Queen Mary of Teck. The stern royal is remembered for her very recognizable style and her love of 'collecting' things. Whispers regarding her collections being obtained with a five-finger discount (that's theft to you and me) have led to allegations that she was a kleptomaniac.

• Princess Margaret's royal relative Queen Mary shared her love for the finer things - but how she's alleged to have gotten her hands on them is actually pretty bonkers.
• According to multiple accounts and even a dramatization in the Downton Abbey film - whispers have led to allegations that she was an 'upmarket kleptomaniac.'
• In other royal news, Queen Camilla's electric blue outfit stands out from the crowd but it's the heartbreaking story behind her sapphire brooch that's got us chatting.

You needn't look much further than the excesses enjoyed in Princess Margaret’s extravagant lifestyle to get an idea of the royal's love of the finer things. Princess Margaret's decadent morning routine is, after all, a thing of legend as was her jewelry and style.

One might say that the late royal took a leaf out of her grandmother's book as Queen Mary of Teck was known for her high-end tastes. One thing that's certain is that the pair share genetics and as we've already seen with Princess Margaret’s granddaughter -  those are some pretty strong genes.

It's safe to say that certain elements of Princess Margaret's personality are remembered with an infamous lens - but that's certainly not as bad as allegations of theft.

According to the King's distant cousin Princess Olga Romanoff, it wasn't quite as simple as stealing and more to do with preying on the obligations of others - owing to her elite status.

"She had kind of upmarket kleptomania," said Princess Olga, "because she would go stay in somebody's house and she'd be sitting on one of a dozen Sheraton chairs and she'd say 'Oo, I do like this chair,' And you'd be obliged to give her all 12."

Seemingly word passed among those at risk of the avid 'collector' and her ways.

"So people got wise to this, and they'd say 'Oh god, Queen Mary's coming to stay,'" added Olga. "So they'd put the good stuff in the attic and bring the more rotten stuff down."

Biographer Anne Edwards discusses the Queen's habits in Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor.

"If while visiting in some aristocratic home she sighted an object that had once belonged to the Royal Family, she often would request its return, and the current owner could do nothing else but oblige," says the biographer.

This alleged behavior is referenced in a subplot in the first Downton Abbey film, where the staff noticed the disappearance of a few tchotchkes around the grand home. These included a paper-knife from the library and a miniature cupid from the drawing room.

Seemingly it wasn't just the upper echelons at risk from HRH's allegedly sticky fingers.

"London antique dealers were to claim that they hid all the bibelots and precious items that they knew might appeal to the Queen when they expected her to visit their premises," reads one passage from Edwards' book. "For the Queen was prone to take what she wished and they would go without payment."