Complex sentence: Despite his distinguished career, in the social atmosphere of the time, when divorced people suffered severe disapproval and could not remarry in the Church of England, Townsend had no chance of marriage with the princess unless she renounced her royal privileges.
Split into simpler sentences: Despite his distinguished career, divorced people suffered severe disapproval in the social atmosphere of the time, and could not remarry in the Church of England. Thus Townsend had no chance of marriage with the princess unless she renounced her royal privileges.