A Cave, Not A Crown: A Visit To The Princess Margaret Rose Cave

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Princess Margaret in the 1940s. (AFP via Getty Images)

British royal succession being what it is, the younger siblings always seem to get the short end of the jewel-encrusted stick. Such was the case of Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. On her father's coronation day, she reportedly said, "Now that Papa is king, I am nothing." The story of Margaret's consolation prize starts at approximately the same time, when Margaret was about six years old and a couple of men who were out rabbit hunting on the other side of the world made an unusual discovery.

The Hidden Cave

Keith McEachern and his buddy, local rabbit-trapping legend Jack "Bunny" Hutchesson, were scouting the property adjacent to McEachern's land, which was a state forest in the Lower Glenelg National Park, on September 7, 1936 when they decided to explore a mysterious opening. At the end of a 50-ft. shaft, McEachern found himself in a small limestone cave full of active stalagmites, stalactites, and helictites. There were so many, in fact, that the cave has been called the "most decorated cave per square meter" in all of Australia. Later studies of the cave concluded that it was likely more than 15 million years old.