Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

**Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon**  (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002), was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II.

## Early life

Princess Margaret was born on 21 August, 1930 in Glamis Castle, Scotland. She was the first member of the royal family in direct line of succession to be born in Scotland since the 1600s.

During the 1950s, she was in a relationship with Peter Townsend which gained much press coverage hoping they would marry, but ultimately they did not.

In 1960, she married the photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones, who was made Earl of Snowdon. They had two children, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon born in 1961 and Lady Sarah Chatto born in 1964. After they divorced in 1978, she was known as _Princess Margaret_ Countess of Snowdon; the Earl's new wife was simply _the_ Countess of Snowdon. Armstrong-Jones died in January 2017, almost 15 years after Margaret.

## Illness and death

Her later life was marred by illness. She suffered a nervous breakdown in the 1970’s, and in 1978, she fell ill whilst visiting Tuvalu, which resulted in her requiring hospital treatment in Sydney, Australia. In January 1985, after years of heavy smoking, she had an operation to remove part of her left lung. In January 1993, she was admitted to hospital with a bout of pneumonia. In February 1998, she suffered a mild stroke in her holiday home at the Caribbean island of Mustique. A year later in the same place, she suffered scalds to her feet in a bathroom accident which reduced her mobility, sometimes using a wheelchair as a result. She had further strokes in early 2001, and her public appearances became less frequent.

Around January 2002, it was announced Princess Margaret was admitted to hospital.

She died on 9 February 2002 of a stroke while in King Edward VII Hospital. She was cremated so she could be buried next to her beloved father, George VI at St George's Chapel. Her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, survived her by just over a month, died on 30 March 2002, aged 101, and she, too, was buried in St George's Chapel.

## Titles and styles

- _21 August 1930 – 11 December 1936_: _Her Royal Highness_ Princess Margaret of York
- _11 December 1936 – 3 October 1961_: _Her Royal Highness_ The Princess Margaret
- _3 October 1961 – 9 February 2002_: _Her Royal Highness_ The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

## Infobox (royalty)

- **name**: Princess Margaret
- **title**: Earl of Snowdon, Countess of Snowdon (#Titles and styles, more)
- **image**: Princess Margaret 1965b (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Margaret circa 1965
- **birth name**: Princess Margaret Rose of York
- **birth place**: Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland
- **death place**: King Edward VII's Hospital, London, England
- **burial date**: 15 February 2002
- **burial place**: Ashes placed in the Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, St George's Chapel;
9 April 2002
Ashes interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel
- **full name**: Margaret Rose Windsor
- **house**: House of Windsor, Windsor
- **father**: George VI
- **mother**: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon