Lord Snowdon, his women, and his love child - Telegraph The Royal Family Lord Snowdon, his women, and his love child As revealed by The Sunday Telegraph earlier this year, Lord Snowdon has been co-operating on a sensational book likely to outrage the Royal Family. 'I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record straight on some things,' he tells Andrew Alderson. By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter 11:21PM BST 31 May 2008 It was while Princess Margaret was attending a high-society party in New York that the hostess asked her politely how the Queen was keeping. "Which one?" she is reported to have replied with her typically razor-sharp wit. "My sister, my mother or my husband?" The remark said it all about the extraordinary married life that the Queen's younger sister was pursuing in the mid-1960s with the Earl of Snowdon, a commoner affectionately dubbed the "first royal rebel" because of his disdain for convention.

The couple had married in May 1960 and their louche and, at times, reckless lifestyle of drug- and alcohol-fuelled affairs – and their fondness for mixing with actors, artists and pop stars – meant that the couple came to epitomise the "Swinging Sixties". Now a semi-authorised biography of Lord Snowdon – to be published on June 12 – will reveal the full extent of the couple's hedonistic, some would say debauched, life together. Snowdon: The Biography has been given a stamp of authority because – as The Sunday Telegraph revealed in January – he has secretly spent four years co-operating with a project that promises to be the most sensational book on the Royal Family in recent times. His frankness about his extramarital affairs, his refusal to deny persistent rumours that he is bisexual and the fact that the book is being published during his lifetime are expected to raise eyebrows among some senior members of the Royal Family, who prefer a "never complain, never explain" approach towards the public.

Related Articles Lord Snowdon fathered a secret love child just months before marrying Princess Margaret 31 May 2008 Official biographies of senior members of the Royal Family are traditionally published after their deaths to spare embarrassment to the subjects of the book, and their family and friends. However, Lord Snowdon, now 78, has preferred to tell his remarkable story publicly during his own lifetime. "I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record straight on some things," he told me recently at his stylish west London home, where some of the best-known photographs of his half-century-long career adorn many walls. He revealed that he had met Anne de Courcy, the book's author, on numerous occasions and had allowed her access to his letters and papers. While remaining loyal to the memory of Princess Margaret, he also encouraged his own friends and friends of the Princess to talk freely to Ms de Courcy. Lord Snowdon seems to have agreed that there should be no "no-go areas": he has been willing to talk about his troubled marriage, his bitter rift with one of Princess Margaret's closest friends and other controversial areas of his occasionally bizarre life.

For many, the book's greatest interest will be in Lord Snowdon's tangled – and at times tragic – love life. The book claims that he fathered an illegitimate child just months before marrying Princess Margaret, in May 1960. Polly Fry, a member of the Fry chocolate dynasty, was born on May 28, 1960, when Lord Snowdon and the Queen's younger sister were on the third week of their honeymoon. However, it was only in 2004 – when Lord Snowdon was 74 – that he apparently went along with her request to have a DNA test. Polly Fry is understood to have become troubled by persistent rumours that Lord Snowdon – not Jeremy Fry – was her biological father. "When you reach a certain stage in your life, you just want to know…" she once said. Sure enough, the DNA tests – using two saliva samples – are said to have revealed that Miss Fry, now Polly Higson, had been fathered by Princess Margaret's former husband. Today Mrs Higson is 48, a married mother of five and lives in rural Somerset.

Yesterday, she confirmed the claims in the new book, but insisted that she did not want to say anything more. "It's all rather unnerving," she told me. Shortly before his first marriage, Lord Snowdon used to visit the Frys regularly at their home, Widcombe Manor, Bath. The book claims that Miss Fry was conceived during a weekend when alcohol and "poppers" – amyl nitrite stimulants – had been in ready supply. "It was a pretty good free-for-all there," said one friend, of an intimate relationship between two allegedly bisexual men and one sexually liberated wife. In a further twist, the book details how Jeremy Fry, who is now dead, had even been due to be best man at Lord Snowdon's wedding to Princess Margaret, but he stood down late in the day due to an alleged illness. In fact, although by this time it was not known who had fathered Mrs Fry's unborn child, Mr Fry had been convicted of a "minor" homosexual offence and fined £2. It was apparently felt that if this – not the bizarre love triangle – emerged it would cause scandal at the royal wedding.

Lord Snowdon then even briefly considered having Jeremy Thorpe, later to be the leader of the Liberal Party, as his best man but a cloud over the politician's sexuality ruled him out, too. Quite how many lovers – both female and, possibly, male – Lord Snowdon has had will never be known. He certainly mixed freely in gay circles, although he once said: "I didn't fall in love with boys, but a few men have been in love with me." In discussions with the author, Lord Snowdon has, however, been much happier to admit some of his female conquests. The book identifies Jacqui Chan, a former model and dancer, as his first real love. As the then Antony Armstrong-Jones, he pursued a passionate relationship with Miss Chan, the stunning subject of some of his early photographs, and their love affair continued until shortly before he became engaged to Princess Margaret in February 1960. One well-known picture, taken by Lord Snowdon, shows Miss Chan turning the heads of three servicemen as she walks through Venice in 1956.

Lord Snowdon, who loved mixing in showbusiness circles, dated Miss Chan, who was Trinidadian born but of Chinese extraction, while she was working in the West End production of The World of Suzie Wong. The book will also scrutinise the 20-year relationship that Lord Snowdon pursued with his mistress Ann Hills. It ended in tragedy when she committed suicide on New Year's Eve, 1996: she had been lonely over Christmas and had telephoned her lover to explain her unhappiness. The 55-year-old journalist died from a drugs overdose after writing a "letter of apology" to the love of her life. She also instructed that Lord Snowdon's intimate gift to her – a jewelled 19th-century brooch that had once belonged to his mother – should be returned to him. Lord Snowdon has said that her death was "very sad, terrible, awful". It is understood that Ms de Courcy details Hills' despair that she and Lord Snowdon were never properly a couple, but the author does not blame him for Ms Hills's suicide.

Ms Hills, like her lover, boasted a strong libido: in 1977 she is said to have knocked on Lord Snowdon's door and said: "I am a journalist and want to do a story about you. But I also want to have an affair with you." Lord Snowdon had lusted after and become captivated by Ms Hills to almost the same degree that he had been attracted many years earlier by Princess Margaret's beauty and sense of fun. After their wedding, however, neither Lord Snowdon nor the Princess was faithful. They both pursued several affairs before divorcing in 1978, having had two children – Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto. One of Lord Snowdon's most passionate extramarital affairs in the late 1960s was with Lady Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs, the daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Reading and one of the most vivacious party-goers of her generation. But, as with many of his lovers, when the relationship ended they parted on good terms and she has always been discreet about their affair.

After Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret separated in 1976, he pursued and later married, Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, the former wife of a film director. The couple married in December 1978 and had one child, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones. However, Lord Snowdon was again unfaithful and they divorced in 2000 – after it emerged that he had fathered a son, Jasper, out of wedlock, with Melanie Cable-Alexander, a journalist. She now lives in Somerset and Lord Snowdon has had little direct involvement with his illegitimate son. Today Lord Snowdon is frail and has to use a wheelchair or sticks because of a recurrence of his childhood polio. Many of his former lovers, including Ms Cable-Alexander, are also believed to have spoken to the author. Lord Snowdon has, however, not been given copy approval and so the biography will not be fully "authorised". Princess Margaret died in 2002, aged 71, at the start of her sister's Golden Jubilee year. Some friends believe she married Lord Snowdon on the "rebound" from her ill-fated relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend.

Princess Margaret enjoyed several extra-marital affairs, notably a lengthy relationship with Roddy Llewellyn, a landscape gardener 18 years her junior. Their romance had started in Mustique, the Caribbean island then owned by Lord Glenconner, and that was always a bone of contention between Lord Snowdon and his first wife. According to the new book, Lord Glenconner – the former Hon Colin Tennant – had been dismissive of Princess Margaret's plans to marry a commoner. When Tony Armstrong-Jones visited Lord Glenconner's London home, the peer even made the photographer use the servants' entrance. Furthermore, when Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret married, Lord Glenconner gave a spacious building plot on Mustique as a wedding present, but he insisted it was a gift only for the bride, not the groom. As a result of the snub, Lord Snowdon spent only a single night on Mustique and called it "Mustake". He was even less complimentary about Lord Glenconner throughout his first marriage, referring to him as "s**t". The new biography is, however, not only crammed with tales of fast living, romantic tragedies and bitter feuds.

It also takes a sympathetic look at the troubled childhood of the young Tony Armstrong-Jones, the son of Ronnie Armstrong-Jones, a barrister, and his wife Anne, the daughter of the wealthy banker Leonard Messel. The incompatible couple divorced when Tony was five and he had an uneasy relationship with his aloof but glamorous mother, who referred to him as her "ugly son". As a young man, who had been educated at Eton and Cambridge, Armstrong-Jones initially intended to be an architect before switching career to become a photographer. Now, for more than 50 years, he has taken photographs of the Royal Family at work and play, including memorable images of his former wife and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Only last year, he was chosen to take the official portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip for the Royal Mail's Diamond Wedding Anniversary pack of stamps. Lord Snowdon, say his friends, remains on good terms with the royal couple: he is said to appreciate the way Prince Philip welcomed him when he first joined the Royal Family and to admire the Queen's professionalism. Ms de Courcy's book will also highlight Lord Snowdon's tireless charity work on behalf of the disabled and the disadvantaged.

Lord Snowdon seems untroubled by the impact of the new biography or what it might say about him. "I wouldn't dream of reading it. I am not remotely interested in the book," he said. Lord Snowdon's ex-wife has to give him her coat as they wait for a taxi | Daily Mail Online comments It might have been a smart choice for an upmarket restaurant, but Lord Snowdon's tweed jacket was not enough to keep out the cold as he waited for a taxi after enjoying Sunday lunch. The former royal photographer was caught out by the winter weather as he left La Famiglia, in Chelsea, where he dined with his former wife, Lucy, the Countess of Snowdon, last weekend. It was so chilly that Ms Lindsay-Hogg, to whom Lord Snowdon was married for 22 years, had to give the frail 84-year-old her coat as they strolled through the London borough after the meal. Chilly: Lord Snowdon's smart tweed jacket and brown scarf were not enough to keep out the winter weather on Sunday afternoon.

Lucy Lindsay-Hogg (right) draped her black coat over him as they went for a stroll Royal favourite: The 84-year-old enjoyed a meal at La Famiglia, in Chelsea pictured above, with his former wife. The upmarket restaurant, which serves traditional Italian food, was a frequent haunt of Princess Diana Distinguished: Lord Snowdon was married to Princess Margaret from 1960 to 1978. The couple are seen together at Buckingham Palace on their wedding day (left) and on a pontoon in the Bahamas in 1967 (right) The pair, who married months after Lord Snowdon's divorce to Princess Margaret in 1978, divorced in 2000 amid allegations of the photographer's extra-marital affairs. But they looked relaxed in each other's company as they made their way out of the restaurant on Sunday - with Lord Snowdon being wheeled out by the Maitre d' after the meal. Lord Snowdon, who became the royal photographer after his marriage to Princess Margaret, now dedicates much of his time to vaccinating children across the globe against polio.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share He shared a joke with the Maitre d' on the pavement as Ms Lindsay-Hogg walked to the end of the road to hail a taxi. When the black cab arrived, the driver stepped out and appeared to apologise for not being able to accommodate the wheelchair as his car was an older model. Before he and his former wife set off for a stroll, Ms Lindsay-Hogg kindly took off her black coat and draped it over Lord Snowdon - keeping him sheltered from the bitter wind. Relaxed: Lord Snowdon was wheeled out of the restaurant by the Maitre d', who chatted with him as his ex-wife went in search of a taxi. He appeared to hold her bag (right) as she waked down the road Wrapping up: When the cab arrived, the driver stepped out and appeared to apologise for not being able to take the wheelchair as his car was an older model. Lucy Lindsay-Hogg is seen draping her coat over him After his divorce to Princess Margaret amid rumours of her extra-marital affair, Lord Snowdon married Ms Lindsay-Hogg, the former wife of film director Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

The marriage ended in divorce in 2000, this time facing allegations that Lord Snowdon was having an affair. There have been a number of similar claims made over the years. Earlier this year, Lord Snowdon donated a series of his photographs, including ones of David Bowie, Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Laurence Olivier to the National Portrait Gallery. The photographer turned his lens on the worlds of theatre, fashion and high society when he began his career in the 1950s. He later became the royal photographer after his marriage to Princess Margaret. He is known for his six-decade association with Vogue and in the early 1960s worked with the Sunday Times Magazine on documentary subjects from mental health to loneliness. The donation of 130 photographs from Lord Snowdon's archive is one of the largest gifts ever received by the gallery, and several of the portraits went on display for the first time this autumn. They are open to view in an exhibition, titled, Snowden: A Life in View, until June 2015.

Princess Margaret - Biography - IMDb Princess Margaret Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (24) | Personal Quotes (9) Overview (5) Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret Rose of York Nickname 5' 1" (1.55 m) Mini Bio (1) Princess Margaret was born on August 21, 1930 in Glamis Castle, Glamis, Tayside, Scotland as Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret Rose of York. She was married to Lord Snowdon . She died on February 9, 2002 in King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes, City of Westminster, London, England. Spouse (1) ( 6 May 1960 - 11 July 1978) (divorced) (2 children) Trivia (24) She received Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Cambridge and Keele, and became a Master of the Bench of Lincoln's Inn. She also served as Colonel-in-Chief of a number of military units, including the Highland Fusiliers of Canada.

Daughter, Sarah Frances Elizabeth, was born on 1 May 1964. Son, David Albert Charles, born 3 November 1961. Was Honorary Doctor of Music of London University. Was the first President of the Royal Ballet. Was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1955, and was given the Royal Victorian Chain by The Queen in 1990. She was also Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The love of her life was Group Captain Peter Townsend , whom she was not allowed to marry because he was a divorced man. She had to choose between him and her royal privileges and chose the latter. It left its mark on her for the rest of her life. Her funeral service - attended by about 450 friends, family and staff, including ex-boyfriend Roddy Llewellyn , actresses Judi Dench and Felicity Kendal , and singer Cleo Laine was held at St George's Chapel, which follows a royal tradition dating back more than 500 years. Was the first royal to divorce since Henry VIII.

She decided to marry Anthony Armstrong-Jones in October 1959 on the same day that she received a letter from Peter Townsend announcing his engagement. It took her parents, who were anticipating a boy, over 2 weeks to come up with a name for their baby. Was the first British royal baby born in Scotland since the seventeenth century. Died three days after the 50th anniversary of her father's death. Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon Relationship Details | ShagTree Photo Credits Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon - Wikipedia ... "He was married to Princess Margaret, ... in the third week of Lord Snowdon's marriage to Princess Margaret, and brought up as a daughter of Jeremy Fry, ..." - source Lord Snowdon - Biography - Photographer, Filmmaker ... "The two were married in 1960. Lord Snowdon was the first commoner in nearly half a century to marry a ... Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret had two children ..." - source Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon - Wikipedia, the ... "Margaret married the photographer Antony ... We thank thee Lord who by thy spirit ...

Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret Rose, Countess of Snowdon, ..." - source PRINCESS MARGARET AND LORD SNOWDON - Dating, Gossip, News ... "Who's Dated Who feature on Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon including pictures, ... Princess Margaret Leo" - source Lord Snowdon's ex-wife has to give him her coat as they ... "Distinguished: Lord Snowdon was married to Princess Margaret from 1960 to 1978. The couple are seen together at Buckingham Palace on their wedding day ..." - source Princess Margaret dating history. Princess Margaret ... "Princess Margaret relationship list. Princess Margaret dating history, ... Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. ... Princess. Occupation Category ..." - source Lord Snowdon, who married Princess Margaret, outed as ... "One of the most enigmatic and puzzling members of the Royal Family, Lord Snowdon, who was married to Princess Margaret and was known for his notorious ..." - source BBC - History - Princess Margaret's wedding (pictures ... "Watch Princess Margaret's 1960 wedding to Antony ... Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey ...

Lord Snowdon tired of official ..." - source Lord Snowdon, his women, and his love child - Telegraph "Furthermore, when Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret married, Lord Glenconner gave a spacious building plot on Mustique as a wedding present, ..." - source Part 2: The inside story of how Lord Snowdon's marriage to ... "In happier times: Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon during a public appearance at the Trooping the Colour ceremony, ... Tony and Margaret still slept together." - source Lord Snowdon to tell all on Royal marriage - Telegraph Lord Snowdon to tell all on Royal marriage Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. His biography details how the couple divorced after growing apart By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter 12:01AM GMT 06 Jan 2008 In their day, Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret could rival anyone for sheer glamour. Thanks to a stormy marriage and reports of extra-marital affairs, they led the field in the society gossip stakes, too.

In pictures: Lord Snowdon's life through a lens Now, after decades of silence over the rumours about his private life, the Earl of Snowdon, 77, has decided to reveal all about his troubled marriage, his bitter rift with one of Princess Margaret's closest friends, and other aspects of his remarkable life. He has secretly spent four years co-operating on a biography that promises to be the most sensational royal book for years. "I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record straight on some things," he told The Sunday Telegraph. His engagement to Princess Margaret in February 1960 was a surprise, as some considered she was still on the "rebound" from her ill-fated relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend. Related Articles Make energy from muck, says Prince Charles 06 Jan 2008 The then plain Anthony Armstrong-Jones was a "commoner": a motorbike-riding photographer, albeit one educated at Eton and Cambridge. The couple married in May 1960 and, in the "swinging sixties", they mixed with actors, artists and pop stars. Neither was faithful.

In the past, Lord Snowdon, who was given his title the year after his marriage, has admitted to "flirtations", but the new book will reveal that they both pursued affairs, even though they remained "deeply in love" for many years. A friend said: "When they met, Tony was astounded by Princess Margaret's beauty. He also thought she was great fun. Even now, he never has a bad word to say about her." Lord Snowdon remains close to his children from the marriage, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto. The book will detail how the couple divorced in 1978 after they had grown apart. Afterwards, Lord Snowdon continued to enjoy a good relationship with senior members of the Royal Family. "Tony loves professionalism. No one is more professional than the Queen and also she is very nice," said a friend. "Prince Philip was always very kind to Tony, particularly when he had just got married." Even now, the Queen and her husband choose Lord Snowdon as the photographer for many of their official portraits. Traditionally, official biographies of members of the Royal Family are only published after their deaths in order to spare embarrassment to the individual and others.

Yet Lord Snowdon, in his twilight years, has been working with Anne de Courcy, the author of the biography, seeing her many times at his London home. He has also allowed her access to his letters and papers, and to interview family and friends. However, he has not been given copy approval, so the biography will not be fully "authorised". Snowdon: The Biography will be published in June. According to those close to Lord Snowdon, the book will detail his dislike of Princess Margaret's friend Colin Tennant - now Lord Glenconner - who once owned the Caribbean playground island of Mustique. Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, always retained a love for Mustique. Lord Snowdon, however, only spent one night there - on his honeymoon - and called it "Mustake". He resented the fact that the landowner gave a plot on Mustique as a wedding present - but only to Princess Margaret, not to them both. Lord Snowdon's life has often been blighted by tragedy. On New Year's Eve 1996, Ann Hills, his long-term mistress, committed suicide. "Tony was devastated by her death," said a friend.

The biography will tell the story of Lord Snowdon's troubled childhood. His parents divorced when he was five and he had an uneasy relationship with his aloof but glamorous mother. After the divorce, Lord Snowdon married Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, the former wife of a film director, in December 1978. Their only child, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones, was born the following year. The couple divorced in 2000 after it emerged that the earl had fathered a son, Jasper, out of wedlock with Melanie Cable-Alexander, a journalist. The book will also detail Lord Snowdon's charity work for disabled people. Today he is frail and has to use a wheelchair, or sticks, because of a recurrence of childhood polio. Anne de Courcy declined to comment on the contents of the biography. "He has had a great life, but you will have to wait until the book is published," she said. "Tweedland" The Gentlemen's club: Lord Snowdon Villa in Kensington ... retreat from an adventurous life Lord Snowdon Villa in Kensington ... retreat from an adventurous life The World of Interiors, january 2009.

Photographs by Dylan Thomas Lord Snowdon to tell all on Royal marriage Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. His biography details how the couple divorced after growing apart By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter 06 Jan 2008 The Telegraph In their day, Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret could rival anyone for sheer glamour. Thanks to a stormy marriage and reports of extra-marital affairs, they led the field in the society gossip stakes, too. Now, after decades of silence over the rumours about his private life, the Earl of Snowdon, 77, has decided to reveal all about his troubled marriage, his bitter rift with one of Princess Margaret's closest friends, and other aspects of his remarkable life. He has secretly spent four years co-operating on a biography that promises to be the most sensational royal book for years. "I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record straight on some things," he told The Sunday Telegraph. His engagement to Princess Margaret in February 1960 was a surprise, as some considered she was still on the "rebound" from her ill-fated relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend.

The then plain Anthony Armstrong-Jones was a "commoner": a motorbike-riding photographer, albeit one educated at Eton and Cambridge. The couple married in May 1960 and, in the "swinging sixties", they mixed with actors, artists and pop stars. Neither was faithful. In the past, Lord Snowdon, who was given his title the year after his marriage, has admitted to "flirtations", but the new book will reveal that they both pursued affairs, even though they remained "deeply in love" for many years. A friend said: "When they met, Tony was astounded by Princess Margaret's beauty. He also thought she was great fun. Even now, he never has a bad word to say about her." Lord Snowdon remains close to his children from the marriage, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto. The book will detail how the couple divorced in 1978 after they had grown apart. Afterwards, Lord Snowdon continued to enjoy a good relationship with senior members of the Royal Family. "Tony loves professionalism. No one is more professional than the Queen and also she is very nice," said a friend.

"Prince Philip was always very kind to Tony, particularly when he had just got married." Even now, the Queen and her husband choose Lord Snowdon as the photographer for many of their official portraits. Traditionally, official biographies of members of the Royal Family are only published after their deaths in order to spare embarrassment to the individual and others. Yet Lord Snowdon, in his twilight years, has been working with Anne de Courcy, the author of the biography, seeing her many times at his London home. He has also allowed her access to his letters and papers, and to interview family and friends. However, he has not been given copy approval, so the biography will not be fully "authorised". Snowdon: The Biography will be published in June. According to those close to Lord Snowdon, the book will detail his dislike of Princess Margaret's friend Colin Tennant - now Lord Glenconner - who once owned the Caribbean playground island of Mustique. Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, always retained a love for Mustique. Lord Snowdon, however, only spent one night there - on his honeymoon - and called it "Mustake".

He resented the fact that the landowner gave a plot on Mustique as a wedding present - but only to Princess Margaret, not to them both. Lord Snowdon's life has often been blighted by tragedy. On New Year's Eve 1996, Ann Hills, his long-term mistress, committed suicide. "Tony was devastated by her death," said a friend. The biography will tell the story of Lord Snowdon's troubled childhood. His parents divorced when he was five and he had an uneasy relationship with his aloof but glamorous mother. After the divorce, Lord Snowdon married Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, the former wife of a film director, in December 1978. Their only child, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones, was born the following year. The couple divorced in 2000 after it emerged that the earl had fathered a son, Jasper, out of wedlock with Melanie Cable-Alexander, a journalist. The book will also detail Lord Snowdon's charity work for disabled people. Today he is frail and has to use a wheelchair, or sticks, because of a recurrence of childhood polio. Anne de Courcy declined to comment on the contents of the biography.

"He has had a great life, but you will have to wait until the book is published," she said. June 15, 2008 Snowdon: The Biography by Anne de Courcy An alarmingly candid biography of the lusty lord The Sunday Times Review by Richard Davenport-Hines How refreshing to read a biography in which the author is half in love with her subject. There are none of the usual patronising putdowns, envious backbiting or mean-spirited cavilling in Anne de Courcy’s portrait of the Earl of Snowdon. She gives everyone the benefit of the doubt — her hero most of all. He is “the perfect biographical subject”, she writes, “because of his brilliant talent, campaigning work for others, colourful life, complex personality”. The driving forces of his life, she continues, “were work and sex, both backed by immense, charismatic charm and a determination unfettered by many of the usual constraints”. Born in 1930, Antony Armstrong-Jones had exotic ancestry and a disturbed upbringing. His father was a barrister whose wild swings of fortune meant he moved house 27 times.

His mother was a glamorous ice-maiden who eventually married a gentle Irish earl and sank into dipsomania. He was the favourite nephew of Oliver Messel, the theatre designer, who lived with a huge, foul-mouthed lover known as the Great Dane and installed two-way mirrors in his guest bedroom. One grandfather was a lunatic asylum superintendent and the other Snowdon recalls as “a grumpy little bugger, very self-important, very Jewish”. As a rule-breaking Eton schoolboy of 16 he was struck by polio, spent six months incarcerated in a Liverpool hospital (partly in an iron lung) and emerged with a limp. This trauma left him with a lust for experience and a fierce resolve to be self-sufficient. At 20 he set up as a society photographer. “Tony Snapshot” surprised everyone by having the business gumption of his ancestor Aaron Messel, the Darmstadt banker — in de Courcy’s words, “meticulous attention to detail, impeccable organisation, persistence, compartmentalism in both his private life and his work, and the ability to exploit, often ruthlessly, some potentially lucrative situation, often . . .

gleaned from a chance remark.” As a young man, “always at the centre of things, he was mercurial, charming, lithe and fit, startlingly good-looking with white teeth and vivid blue eyes in a tanned face”. He was sexually insatiable. “If it moves, he’ll have it,” a friend said. In the early days he enjoyed boys, “who were fun to do things with”, as well as girls. “I didn’t fall in love with boys,” he told his biographer, “but a few men have been in love with me.” Brazen and shameless, he was the epitome of bisexual chic with his Gauloises and dark shades when in 1958 he met Princess Margaret. In de Courcy’s words, “PM” was “intelligent, capricious, wilful, often flirtatious, sometimes freezing, easily bored but witty, sparkling and gay when with those whose company she enjoyed . . . If all this was not enough, she was gilded with the mysterious, mythic aura of royalty”. Margaret was intrigued by Armstrong-Jones’s bohemian world.

She was the first princess to go a-courting in Rotherhithe, where he had a flat, from which they and Noël Coward once threw empty Cointreau bottles into the Thames. In 1959, as DNA tests confirmed 40 years later, Armstrong-Jones conceived a child while enjoying a threesome (fuelled by booze and amyl nitrite) with a married couple called Camilla and Jeremy Fry. A few days later he made his first visit to Balmoral. He and PM became engaged while on a visit to the Frys later in the year. They married in Westminster Abbey in 1960. Sixpence was deducted from the pay of every serviceman towards a wedding present. “Tony and the princess,” says de Courcy, were “as good-looking, photogenic, romantic, exciting and deeply in love as the hero and heroine of a fairy story.” At Kensington Palace they held parties at which Dudley Moore played the piano, Cleo Laine sang, Peter Sellers did comic voices, Spike Milligan showed off and John Betjeman told stories, while PM belted out tunes from the musicals she loved.

To judge from this book, neither Snowdon nor PM had much of interest to say about the creative people whom they met. “He scared the shit out of me,” is almost all Snowdon is quoted as saying of Lucian Freud. After their daughter Sarah’s birth in 1964, PM “could hardly bear him out of her sight”. Her hysterical possessiveness was intolerable, for “Tony, at the best of times, needed space — and could turn on those who threatened it”. To escape her clutches, he engineered overseas photoshoots for the Sunday Times; while he was abroad she “grew correspondingly more frantic in her efforts to track him down”. Snowdon’s troubled upbringing produced a man of great emotional imagination and sensitivity (he was superb in the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster in which 116 primary-school children were killed in 1966) who felt safest in dealing pre-emptive hurts and humiliations to the women in his life. He revelled in browbeating PM — telling her to shut up and let someone intelligent talk if she offered an opinion — and his lies, an essential accompaniment to his adulteries, were doubly painful for being so deliberately transparent.

After years of infidelities and tantrums the Snowdons divorced in 1978. He was unscathed by the publicity — his success as a lothario tended to be admired by journalists — while PM was pilloried because she was a woman of a certain age with a younger boyfriend, Roddy Llewelyn. In the 30 years following the divorce Snowdon maintained his world-class reputation as a photographer, became an active rector of the Royal College of Art and a doughty campaigner on behalf of the disabled. The long-term exclusion of wheelchair users by British Rail was a particular bugbear. The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 embodied many of his hopes. His crusading and his hard work, though, recede in de Courcy’s tale amid the serial adulteries. Once divorced, he could not avoid marrying his girlfriend Lucy Lindsay-Hogg. But he had many other entanglements, notably with a sexually voracious journalist who committed suicide after writing a textbook on adultery. Another important affair with Melanie Cable-Alexander produced a son (born when Snowdon was 68).

His wife Lucy obtained a decree nisi in 2000, but the divorce has never been made absolute, protecting him from girlfriends who might insist on becoming the new countess. In his late seventies he still ran two regular mistresses and engaged in other devious diversions. At best this seems caddish — “Tony showed me letters from women still in love with him,” admits de Courcy — and at worst cruel. Anne de Courcy rightly stresses the Jewishness of Snowdon’s background, but never shows how it has mattered to him. Similarly, though she has recorded countless hours of interviews with Snowdon, in which his candour at first seems startling, his comments are superficial, and de Courcy doesn’t seem searching. She neither asks him nor explains what drives a man in his mid- seventies to one-night stands and affairs. It can’t, at 75, be imperative, pounding lust. Is it vanity, fear of death, force of habit, physical loneliness or braggadocio? Lady Sarah Chatto, Snowdon’s daughter by PM, is renowned for her unshakeable sanity and cheerful scepticism about other people’s motives.

She alone of those close to him has not co-operated with de Courcy, but otherwise his son, half-brothers, former girlfriends and employees have been encouraged by him to speak with devastating candour. Even his current cleaning lady talks of the nameless women whom she finds curled up asleep under his duvet. His publishers must be delighted by the naked frankness of the biography, but, as with Andrew Morton’s book on Princess Diana, nobody emerges undamaged from the story — and his reasons for co-operating with de Courcy are mystifying compared with Diana’s. Snowdon’s honesty is not so much disarming as dismaying. Snowdon: The Biography by Anne de Courcy Publicada por Jeeves em 15:20 BBC ON THIS DAY | 19 | 1976: Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon to split About This Site | Text Only 1976: Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon to split Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon are to separate after 16 years of marriage, it has been announced by Buckingham Palace. After weeks of speculation a 39-word statement was issued by the Palace today.

It said: "HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and the Earl of Snowdon have mutually agreed to live apart. "The Princess will carry out her public duties and functions unaccompanied by Lord Snowdon. There are no plans for divorce proceedings." 'Desperately sad' Earl Snowdon, who is currently in Australia to open a photographic exhibition of his work, said he was "desperately sad". It is understood he knew nothing of the announcement prior to its release. He appealed for understanding for his two children, 14-year-old Viscount David Linley and 11-year-old Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones. Princess Margaret's spokesperson, John Griffin, said: "A separation has been a possibility for some time and once the final decision had been reached it was obviously best to implement it straight away. "A separation was the best course to take in all the circumstances bearing in mind in particular the interests of the two children." Princess Margaret, who becomes the first member of the Royal family to divorce since Henry VIII, married Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones on 5 May 1960.

Just five years earlier she had called off plans to marry divorcee Group Captain Peter Townsend with whom she had been linked for several years. Her acquaintance with 29-year-old Roddy Llewellyn, son of Olympic gold medallist horseman, Lt-Col Harry Llewellyn, has fuelled rumours about her marriage. Last month the couple spent time on the Caribbean island of Mustique, where the Princess has taken several extended holidays without her husband since their marriage. The Queen is said to be very sad but has had no influence in the decision. It is understood the 45-year-old Princess, who is fifth in line to throne, will continue to take �35,000 a year from the Civil List and will continue with her public duties. Lord Snowdon, 46, will be required to find alternative accommodation. He has never received funds from the Civil List. In a statement the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Donald Coggan, who is in the West Indies said: "One hopes that every understanding will be shown to the Royal Family at this time of distress." Did Lord Snowdon have a fling with Backstairs Billy? | Daily Mail Online It sounds utterly preposterous.

But as society decorator Nicky Haslam reveals his own affair with Princess Margaret's husband, friends say that's only the start of the story... The disclosure is intended to be a literary bombshell. Why else would society decorator Nicky Haslam make the wicked revelation in his new memoir that, as a young man, he had an affair with the Earl of Snowdon? His motive is clear: excited gossip, explosive headlines and a few extra sales. It is certainly ironic that, in addition to his relationship with the man who later married Princess Margaret, the Queen's younger sister, Haslam also had an affair with Roddy Llewellyn, who later became her lover (and, but for the fact that he was almost 18 years her junior, might even have become her second husband). A marriage destined to fail: Snowdon and Princess Margaret in 1965 In fact, Nicky and Roddy lived together for a year in a basement flat in Fulham, parted only by a lovers' quarrel. And yet despite the best efforts of Haslam's publishers, the explosion has been, shall we say, relatively muffled.

Professional gardener Sir Roddy, as he now is since inheriting the baronetcy on the recent death of his rakish, heirless elder brother Dai, has simply closed the door on his old friend's revelations. As for Snowdon, now 79, his amused response - 'Good God! Why should I be upset? I'm calling him Nicky Hasbeen' - shows that although not in the best of health, he has not lost that half-mocking <cite>joie de vivre </cite>and charismatic charm that made him a sexual magnet for both men and women. Haslam, who met Snowdon when at Eton, is a smooth social operator who would never have made the affairs public had the Princess been alive. Billy Tallon was the Queen Mother's page but was he also Lord Snowdon's lover? Even so, he has broken the <cite>omerta </cite>that covers gay affairs, especially those conducted in the days when homosexuality was still illegal. 'It's so cheap of him,' says one of Roddy's oldest friends. 'Roddy's been happily married for years and has three children in their 20s.

Shouldn't Nicky have asked his permission first?' Privately, the Earl of Snowdon, Antony Armstrong- Jones, also considers it to be a gross breach of trust - 'pure kiss-and-tell for profit,' says a close female friend. 'Nicky is perfectly entitled to disclose his own secrets if he wishes, but not those of other people.' And yet, friends are not surprised at Snowdon's relaxed response to details of the dalliance, which occurred when he was 29 and Haslam 20, not long before the dashing, motorcycling, photographer married the Princess and was given an earldom. 'Actually, Tony quite likes being in the limelight these days, especially if there's a bit of intrigue,' says a friend by way of explanation. Fifties Fling: Nicky Haslam claims his affair with Lord Snowdon took place just a year before he married Princess Margaret Snowdon's astonishingly active and varied love-life - involving two illegitimate children and a female lover's suicide - has long been a topic of considerable fascination and, at the posher end of society, of ribald discussion.

This can be traced back to his Eton schooldays where it was noticed - as the distinguished author Anne de Courcy blithely noted in her official biography Snowdon - 'that Tony, though small in stature, was physically well-endowed.' According to a female friend: 'Practically every woman who's had anything to do with him talks about it. One in particular has been known to take other women into a corner and give them all the details.' 'Tony's always been driven by two things: work and sex,' says de Courcy. 'A day without either was considered a total waste.' In those heady days of emergent Swinging London there were women aplenty in his life - from the long-legged Lady Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs, sister of the 4th Marquess of Reading, to the tiny dancer of Chinese descent Jacquie Chan.

There was also the little matter of an affair with the wife of his dearest friend, chocolate heir Jeremy Fry, in the run up to his marriage to Princess Margaret at Westminster Abbey in May 1960 - a day of sounding trumpets and joyous cheering, with the happy couple waving from Buckingham Palace balcony to a celebrating crowd of 30,000. Three weeks later, while he and Princess Margaret were still on honeymoon in the Caribbean, Camilla Fry was giving birth to a daughter, Polly - Snowdon's daughter. The newly ennobled Lord Snowdon accepted the Frys' invitation to be her godfather. The Frys divorced in 1967 and, in 2004, after years of gossip and with Snowdon's approval, Polly initiated DNA tests. Lord Snowdon: Said to be proud of his conquests of both sexes The results showed he was her father. His relaxed response was to suggested to her that she start calling him 'Pops'. Astonishingly, if Haslam has his timing right, Snowdon was having an affair with him as well as with Camilla Fry while simultaneously courting the Princess and getting to know the Royal Family.

He was the first commoner for 400 years to marry a king's daughter. Until now, no man has ever stepped out of the shadows to confess an affair with the slightly-built figure left with a withered leg after contracting polio as a teenager. For his part, Snowdon's response to de Courcy when she questioned him about the gay side to his sexual appetites was simply to tell her: 'I didn't fall in love with boys,' adding after a short pause, 'but a few men have been in love with me.' The young Armstrong-Jones was to be seen at all the debs' parties, photographing many of them in his Pimlico studio, and a 'good percentage of them' were bedded by him. 'I would say he's rather proud of his conquests - of both sexes - but he'd never be boastful about it,' says one confidante.

'He's never gossiped about them.' But in her 2008 biography, de Courcy wrote: 'To most of the girls who worked in the Pimlico Road studio, there seemed little doubt that Tony was gay, especially when they saw him kiss friends like ( choreographer) John Cranko on the lips.' Tony's camp manner is believed to have been 'absorbed' from his gay uncle Oliver Messel, the stage designer with whom he spent a great deal of time after his parents were acrimoniously divorced when he was five. Messel would rent an apartment in Venice and Tony would stay with him there during August and September. Sometimes he would bring a friend, such as Eton contemporary Tom Parr, another of Snowdon's liaisons from his early life, according to Haslam. Parr, who was to become head of the fine antiques and design company Colefax and Fowler, now lives with a male partner in France. The summers in Venice passed with Messel sunbathing by day and, at night, wandering through the beautiful city enthralling his nephew by pointing out the exquisite detail of the buildings.

And finally, as Snowdon has recalled: 'We would end up in some gay bar at five in the morning.' Princess Margaret's official biographer, Christopher Warwick, recalls the moment he asked her about her first meeting with the then Antony Armstrong- Jones, son of a Welsh QC, at a dinner party in Chelsea hosted by their mutual friend Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, sister of the late 11th Duke of Devonshire. 'She replied instantly: "I thought he was very pleasant but everybody told me that he was queer," ' says Warwick. That ghastly, though mercifully discarded, word (which Warwick did not use in the book) would not have put the Princess off, even though it was hardly an accurate description of a man who also had a passionate sexual appetite for women - 'if it breathes, take it,' according to friends. 'Margaret wouldn't have been "challenged" as some other women might by thinking he was gay,' says Warwick. 'She would rapidly have seen for herself that Tony had a gay side but that would not have put her off because she was attracted to these boyish, slightly fey men.

The vast majority of her male friends were gay.' But marriage was something else, and Lady Elizabeth Cavendish asked the Princess: 'Are you sure you're able to put up with his bohemian way of life?' The Princess replied: 'I'm sure I can.' Says Warwick: 'By "bohemian" I think Lady Elizabeth was using an umbrella term covering all aspects of his life as she knew it. She was a very great friend of his, remember, and certainly knew that he had lots of gay and bisexual friends who went to his parties in Pimlico.' When Warwick, in the first of his two Margaret biographies, attempted to describe Snowdon as a 'gay young blade' the publisher's lawyers made him take it out - much to the amusement of the Princess.

Haslam writes in his memoir Redeeming Features that his 'romance' with the 'dazzlingly attractive' Snowdon took place at a time when the future Earl 'had other irons in the fire, especially the flowerlike Chinese actress Tsai Chin, soon to star in The World Of Suzie Wong.' At the time, Haslam was living in a small flat and writes that he was 'seduced in part by his crisply modern photographic studio with a narrow, banister-free spiral staircase.' Tony's almost instinctive flirting with handsome men and attractive women has always been known to his friends. 'He always flirts with good-looking waiters in restaurants,' says one close female friend. 'He has always needed women, but of course there have been other male liaisons - it's an on-going interest in chaps, really. 'One young chap who was assigned to work with him told me he was warned about Tony because he was so good-looking that he might not be "safe".

Actually, he was very safe because he was straight - Tony would never attempt to have a go at any straight man.' Some friends are convinced he also had a 'fling' with the Queen Mother's long-serving page, the late William Tallon - Backstairs Billy, as the gay Page of the Backstairs was known. 'Tony used to look in on Billy whenever he visited Clarence House,' recalls a close figure. 'And after she died and Billy lost his job, he would go to lunch with Tony every Sunday at his house in Kensington, even when Tony had a girlfriend with him. 'No one's suggesting they had a lengthy affair. But it would be absolutely in character with Tony to have a fling and remain good friends with the other person, male or female.' Then there was the aforementioned Jeremy Fry, handsome, amusing, and due to be Tony's best man in 1960 until it emerged (though kept secret) that he had been fined &pound;2 by the Marlborough Street Magistrates for importuning. Fry immediately withdrew from the role, but he and Tony remained bosom friends - even after Polly's DNA paternity result - until Fry's death four years ago.

Incredibly, the first suggested replacement for Fry as Tony's best man was another old friend from his Eton days, Jeremy Thorpe. But after discreet inquiries the task was put in the safe heterosexual hands of medical consultant Dr Roger Gilliatt, husband of Tony's great friend, writer Penelope Gilliatt. Years later, Thorpe would lose the leadership of the Liberal Party in the maelstrom of a gay affair that culminated in him being charged, and acquitted, of conspiring to have his lover Norman Scott murdered. But the major figures in Snowdon's love life have always been women. Two of his five children are illegitimate. In addition to woodworker and Christie's chairman Viscount Linley and painter Lady Sarah Chatto, both with Princess Margaret, he has a daughter, Frances, 30, by film-maker Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, whom he married in 1978 within months of his divorce from the Princess. They were divorced in 2000 after it emerged that he had a son, Jasper, now 11, with Melanie Cable-Alexander, an editor at Country Life. And then there is Polly Fry, now 49 and, like him, a photographer.

His longest-serving mistress was journalist Ann Hills, whom he met at a disabled charity press conference. For some 20 years he would secretly call on her at her home in London's Marylebone. On New Year's Eve, 1996, she took a lethal overdose of tranquillisers and paracetamol, washed down with champagne. Police found a message on her answering machine. It was from Lord Snowdon, saying that he could not see her because over Christmas and the New Year he would be too much under the spotlight. An inquest concluded that she was distressed by her failure to find a lasting relationship. 'He had affairs with women, but they were only flings with men,' explains a friend. 'And I don't need to say which ones he thinks were less trouble.' In recent years the woman in his increasingly frail embrace has been the mental health campaigner Marjorie Wallace, a vigorous and vivacious 65-year-old who adores his boyish charm and is equally unfazed by tell-tales of long ago. 'We remain very good friends and have regular lunches,' she says. 'He is in good spirits and goodish health.

All is fine.' As for the Haslam-Snowdon affair, my information is that it was a one-night stand. BBC - History - Princess Margaret's wedding (pictures, video, facts & news) Princess Margaret's wedding Princess Margaret's wedding 06 May 1960 Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey in the spring of 1960. It was the first royal wedding to be broadcast on television and more than 20 million viewers tuned in to watch it. Photo: Princess Margaret and her husband, the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, wave from Buckingham Palace. (AFP/Getty Images) Introduction Princess Margaret's first public event with fiancee Antony Princess Margaret's first public engagement with fiancee Antony Armstrong-Jones, at the Royal Opera House. Princess Margaret's first public event with fiancee Antony Armstrong-Jones, at the Royal Opera House, following their surprise engagement announcement. BBC preparations for filming Princess Margaret's wedding Peter Dimmick explains the BBC's preparations for filming Princess Margaret's wedding. Peter Dimmick explains the BBC's preparations for filming Princess Margaret's wedding, including camera positions in Westminster Abbey and along the parade route. Highlights from Princess Margaret's wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones.

Highlights from Princess Margaret's wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey, London. This event features in: More information about: Princess Margaret's wedding How the couple met Princess Margaret was the daughter of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, born 21 August 1930 at Glamis Castle - the first royal birth in Scotland since the 17th Century. On VE Day in 1945, she mingled with the crowds outside Buckingham Palace along with her older sister Elizabeth, who was to become queen in 1952. The young princess took an interest in the arts and fashion and was the centre of a young set of aristocrats, know as The Margaret Set. In 1953 she fell in love with one of the Royal Household, Group Captain Peter Townsend. Because he was divorced, marriage to Margaret was judged unacceptable by the Church of England and the political establishment. Eventually, Margaret decided not to marry him. The princess resumed her social life and, in 1958, was introduced to a Cambridge graduate who was making a name for himself as a photographer. Anthony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret were engaged in October 1959.

The wedding day Thousands lined the streets to witness the Queen's younger sister get married. It was the first ever televised wedding, and 20 million viewers tuned in. Princess Margaret made the journey from Clarence House to Westminster Abbey in the Glass Coach with the Duke of Edinburgh. She dressed in white silk and sported a diamond tiara. Among the 2,000 guests in the church were the King and Queen of Sweden, and the traditional Church of England service was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. After the ceremony, the pair travelled to Buckingham Palace where they waved to a delighted crowd. The newlyweds boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia on the Thames and set off for a honeymoon in the Caribbean. Life after the wedding Antony Armstrong-Jones (now the Earl of Snowdon) and Princess Margaret had two children, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones. Over time, Lord Snowdon tired of official engagements, saying "I'm not royal; I'm just married to one." The couple officially separated in March 1976, and divorced two years later. Princess Margaret was dogged by ill-health for many years.

She suffered a nervous breakdown, had parts of a lung removed and badly scalded her feet in a bathing accident. The operation on her lung failed to stop her smoking. In 1998, she suffered the first of a series of strokes. On 9 February 2002 she died peacefully in her sleep after another stroke. Her funeral took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor. The Earl of Snowdon has continued with his photography work. He remarried in 1978 but later divorced in 2000. In 1999 he received a life peerage so he could keep his seat in the House of Lords.

Question: Which royal was once married to Lord Snowden?
Answer: Princess Margaret