Princess Margaret: recently unearthed letter sheds new light on decision not to marry - Telegraph The Royal Family Princess Margaret: recently unearthed letter sheds new light on decision not to marry It was a famously doomed love story of a tragic princess who was forced to give up the love of her life in the name of duty. A newly discovered letter fromPrincess Princess reveals she was "uncertain" of her love for Peter Townsend. Photo: GETTY IMAGES Roya Nikkhah, Arts Correspondent 10:00PM GMT 07 Nov 2009 Princess Margaret's decision not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend, a divorcee, has always been thought to have been made under pressure and opposition from the Queen, the court and senior members within the Church of England. But now a newly discovered letter from the Princess turns the story on its head, revealing that she was "uncertain" of her love for Townsend, despite their long-term affair. Far from being forced to act, the Princess's letter to Anthony Eden, the then prime minister, shows that she was determined to take the decision herself of whether to marry Townsend or not. Experts said the discovery of the letter "rewrites history".

The letter, which was handwritten at Balmoral and dated August 15 1955, just six days before the Princess's 25th birthday, begins: "My dear Prime Minister" It states: "I am writing to tell you, as far as I can of any personal plans during the next few months ... During the last of August and all September I shall be here at Balmoral, and I have no doubt that during this time – especially on my birthday on August 21st – the press will encourage every sort of speculation about the possibility of my marrying Group Captain Peter Townsend. Related Articles Princess destroyed Diana letters 17 Sep 2009 "I am not going to see him during this time but in October I shall be returning to London, and he will then be taking his annual leave – I do certainly hope to see him while he is there... "But it is only by seeing him in this way that I feel I can properly decide whether I can marry him or not. "At the end of October or early November I very much hope to be in a position to tell you and the other Commonwealth Prime Ministers what I intend to do.

"The Queen of course knows I am writing to you about this, but of course no one else does, and as everything is so uncertain I know you will regard it certainly as a confidence." Christopher Warwick, a close friend of Princess Margaret and her official biographer, said the letter was "a very remarkable and significant historical document which puts a completely different complexion on the accepted version of events". He said: "This letter rewrites history, because here you've got a very determined and confident young woman in control of the situation, telling the Prime Minister that she has not decided and is wavering, which is at odds with what the public was led to believe and certainly with what she told me. "The perception was that she gave up the love of her life for duty and protocol, but this letter sets a question mark over that. It shows that the love, conceivably, was not as strong as it was to begin with. It's likely she didn't want anyone other than Eden to know she'd had doubts, because it had gone so far." Mr Warwick said that the letter also cast doubt on the long-held assumption that Princess Margaret believed she would have to renounce all her royal privileges if she married Townsend.

In fact, Eden, Britain's first divorced prime minister, who replaced Winston Churchill in April 1955, had ensured she would keep her HRH title and a civil list allowance. Mr Warwick, said: "Margaret almost never spoke of Peter Townsend, but on the rare occasion she did, she told me that she knew nothing about what was going on behind the scenes and that nobody kept her abreast of developments. "What is certain as a result of this letter is that she knew the Government was paving the way for the marriage if she wanted it and it proves that she was so much more involved in the process than she ever let on." Lady Mary Russell, a friend of Princess Margaret's, said that she had also always believed the Princess had little say in the matter and had been forced to give up Townsend because of the pressure to follow royal protocol. She said: "We still felt it wouldn't be possible, not in that time, for her in her position to marry Peter Townsend, therefore when she did as she did, made the decision not to carry on, we were deeply sympathetic and sad for her." The letter was discovered earlier this year at the National Archives in Kew in a file called "1955 Royal Family".

It was found by a producer of Channel 4's The Queen, a new five-part docudrama based on pivotal events during the Queen's reign. The first episode, Sisters, starring Emila Fox as the Queen and Katie McGrath as Princess Margaret, will be broadcast on November 29 and portrays the events leading up to the Princess' announcement that she would not marry Townsend. A statement issued by Princess Margaret on October 31, 1955, said: "Mindful of the Church's teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before others." The Princess first met Townsend, a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, when she was still a teenager and he, twice her age, was married with two children and equerry to her father, King George VI. After the king's death in 1952, he became Comptroller of the Queen Mother's household. Their relationship was exposed after the Queen's coronation in June 1953 when a newspaper reporter noticed the Princess flick a piece of fluff from Townsend's jacket.

Shortly after the coronation, he was sent to Brussels for two years as an air attaché at the British Embassy in an attempt to quell the press interest in the scandal. Previously, a royal marriage to a divorcee had resulted in the abdication of Edward VIII to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson. In May 1960, Princess Margaret married the photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones. But the marriage was dogged by rumours of infidelity and heavy drinking, and the couple divorced in 1978. The Princess died in February 2002 aged 71, seven years after Townsend died aged 80. The Crown: what's the real story of Princess Margaret’s affair with Peter Townsend? Vanessa Kirby plays the royal in the new Netflix drama Top 40 TV shows available on Netflix now By then, the affair was already in full swing. Margaret’s father had died after the war and her sister had become Queen, leaving the princess– played by Vanessa Kirby in The Crown – grief-stricken and lonely. Townsend (Ben Miles) was appointed Comptroller of her mother’s household and the two became very… close.

RAF Group Captain Peter Townsend pictured in Brussels in 1955 By 1953, Townsend had divorced his wife and proposed to the 22-year-old Princess. Margaret was inclined to accept, but it was not that simple: under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, as an under-25-year-old she would need the monarch’s consent to the match. This put the Queen in a really, really tricky situation, so she did what any true procrastinator does: she put things off and asked her sister to wait a bit. When it came out, it was the Abdication Crisis all over again: could a royal marry someone who was divorced? The Church of England said no, rather emphatically. The British Cabinet said they would refuse to approve the marriage, Winston Churchill hated the thought, and the newspapers – initially, at least – were against the “unthinkable” event. So, what next for the star-crossed lovers? Churchill arranged for Townsend to be posted to Brussels, at least until Margaret got to 25 and could marry without the Queen’s consent. But even then, she would have to renounce her claim to the throne as well as her royal allowance.

Like her uncle before her, she faced a choice: love or duty? There was an agonising wait while Margaret tried to decide what to do, and then finally – after two years – she issued a statement. Ben Miles as Group Captain Townsend and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown Did Princess Margaret decide not to marry Peter Townsend? The Princess explained: “I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. “But mindful of the Church's teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before others. I have reached this decision entirely alone, and in doing so I have been strengthened by the unfailing support and devotion of Group Captain Townsend.” In his autobiography, Time and Chance, Group Captain Townsend wrote: “I simply hadn't the weight, I knew it, to counterbalance all she would have lost." Princess Margaret pictured on 17 October 1955. Her decision not to marry Captain Townsend was announced on 31 October Who did Princess Margaret marry?

In 1960, Margaret put her first love behind her and married society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, later Lord Snowdon. They had two children together, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto. It was not a happy match, and eventually ended in divorce, which was finalised in 1978. He later remarried to Lucy Lindsay-Hogg. Lord Snowdon died on 13th January 2016. As for Group Captain Townsend, he also remarried. During his Belgium posting he met a local, 20-year-old Marie-Luce Jamagne, and tied the knot with her in 1959. Princess Margaret with her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones in the happy early days, 1960 How accurate is The Crown? In dramatising the affair, Netflix’s The Crown has kept true to life. Margaret did indeed find out about her lover’s exile to the British Embassy in Brussels while on a tour of Rhodesia – the trip on which he had been meant to accompany her. The reactions of the Cabinet, the way it divided and scandalised the press: all this comes directly from real life.

What we do not really know is how the scandal affected Margaret and Elizabeth’s relationship. It must have stretched and strained their bond to its limits as the older sister was forced to balance political concerns with her sister’s happiness – and yet, throughout their lives, the two remained close. What really went on between the Windsor sisters? That may forever remain between Elizabeth and the late Princess Margaret – but The Crown writer Peter Morgan's portrayal is a believable interpretation of what might have been said behind closed doors. The Crown: Who did Princess Margaret marry? Why didn’t she marry Peter Townsend? | Royal | News | Daily Express ROYAL The Crown: Who did Princess Margaret marry? Why didn’t she marry Peter Townsend? PRINCESS Margaret’s affair with Group Captain Peter Townsend sparks a constitutional crisis in new Netflix drama The Crown. But who did she marry in real life? 07:08, Thu, Dec 22, 2016 | UPDATED: 10:29, Thu, Dec 22, 2016 GETTY / NETFLIX Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones after her split from Group Captain Townsend In the smash-hit royal drama, Margaret embarks on an affair with divorcée Group Captain Peter Townsend.

Although the public are in full support of the match, the Cabinet insist that Queen Elizabeth intervenes and break the pair up because the Church of England does not allow for divorcées to remarry. The series ends with Margaret single, heartbroken and full of resentment towards her sister. But in real-life, what happened next? Who did Princess Margaret marry? Just over four years after the split, Margaret became engaged to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. She reportedly accepted his proposal after discovering that Group Captain Townsend was to marry another woman. The announcement came as a surprise to the public as the couple had concealed their romance from the press. The couple married at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 1960, with Princess Anne as a bridesmaid and Prince Philip escorting the bride down the aisle. Most European royal families boycotted the wedding, disproving of the Princess marrying a commoner.

GETTY Margaret and Antony announced their engagement in 1960 Royal 2nd's - heirs and spares Sat, May 2, 2015 With the birth of William and Kate's second child imminent, we take a look back through the Royal Family's history of 'heirs and spares.' 1 of 21 Queen Elizabeth II [Getty Images] The ceremony was the first royal wedding to be broadcast on television with 300 million people watching across the world. Margaret and Antony, who was created Earl of Snowdon, had two children – David, born November 3, 1961, and Sarah, born May 1, 1964. But their marriage was dogged by rumours of extra-marital affairs on both sides, and the couple split in 1976 after pictures were published of the Princess in the company of another man, Roddy Llewellyn. The couple married at Westminster Abbey GETTY More than 300 million people watched the ceremony on TV Lord Snowdon went on to remarry just months after their divorce was finalised.

However Margaret remained single until her death on February 2, 2002, although she was linked to several men by the press. The divorce and scandal earned the Princess negative publicity, but paved the way for royals such as Prince Charles and Prince Andrew to divorce in later years. GETTY The Snowdons had two children – David and Sarah Why didn’t Princess Margaret marry Group Captain Peter Townsend? In The Crown, viewers watched as Princess Margaret fought for the right to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. Under royal laws, the young Princess had to seek permission from her sister Queen Elizabeth in order to marry her lover. The Queen asked her sister to wait until she was 25, by which time she would not need the monarch’s permission. But after holding off for two years, Margaret was told that the Cabinet would never approve the engagement because Group Captain Townsend was a divorcée. NETFLIX Princess Margaret and Group Captain Townsend were split up by the Queen and her Cabinet Released on October 31, 1955, it said: “I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend.

I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. “But mindful of the Church's teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before others. “I have reached this decision entirely alone, and in doing so I have been strengthened by the unfailing support and devotion of Group Captain Townsend.” Related articles Did the Queen stop Princess Margaret marrying Peter Townsend? - BBC News BBC News Did the Queen stop Princess Margaret marrying Peter Townsend? 19 November 2016 Close share panel Image copyright Netflix The lavish production of The Crown, the drama of the Queen's reign running on Netflix, perpetuates the myth that Princess Margaret was browbeaten into giving up Group Captain Peter Townsend, the war hero who proposed to her in 1953. But documents in the National Archives show that the reality was quite different, writes former BBC Court correspondent Paul Reynolds. SPOILER ALERT: THIS STORY REVEALS KEY PLOT DETAILS The Crown shows Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden stressing the cabinet's opposition to the marriage and threatening the princess with exile for five years if she goes ahead.

The Queen tells her sister chillingly that if she marries Townsend she will no longer be a member of the family. But in fact, papers available in the National Archives since 2004 show that the Queen and Eden drew up a plan in 1955 under which Princess Margaret could marry Townsend while keeping her royal title and her civil list allowance of £6,000 a year plus another £9,000 on marriage. She could live in this country and even continue with public duties if the public approved, as was highly likely. However, she would have to renounce her rights of succession and those of her children. Find us on Facebook Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, a former Battle of Britain pilot, fell in love when he was an equerry first to George VI and then to Elizabeth II. In 1952 he divorced his wife on the grounds of her adultery and subsequently proposed to Margaret.

Image copyright PA Image caption Princess Margaret, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Group Captain Peter Townsend and Princess Elizabeth in the Royal Box at the Strand Theatre (August 1946) However, the Queen was required to give permission for the marriage under the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 and, under pressure from the government of Winston Churchill and the Church of England which opposed divorce, she refused. Instead Margaret and Townsend were told to wait for two years until she was 25 and more able, under the Act, to choose for herself. Townsend was despatched to be an air attache in Brussels, living on his own in a hotel room. Her Majesty would not wish to stand in the way of her sister's happiness Sir Anthony Eden, Prime Minister After the two years was up, there was still a problem. The Queen maintained her refusal to give permission. The princess, having reached the age of 25, could have asked Parliament to override this refusal but that would have caused a sensation. This time, however, a compromise was worked out. The government was now under Anthony Eden who had been divorced and remarried himself. He pledged to amend the Act to remove Margaret and her children from the succession.

The Queen's permission would therefore be unnecessary. It was simple and decisive - the Act was blocking the marriage, so the Act would be changed. The Queen agreed. Far from opposing her sister's marriage, the Queen's attitude was summed up by Eden in a letter to Commonwealth prime ministers: "Her Majesty would not wish to stand in the way of her sister's happiness." Image copyright Netflix Image caption Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown Eden himself, in his letter to Commonwealth prime ministers was very sympathetic to Princess Margaret. "Exclusion from the Succession would not entail any other change in Princess Margaret's position as a member of the Royal Family," he wrote. One mystery is why the princess herself, only three days after the final draft of the proposal was produced, announced on 31 October 1955 that she would not be marrying Townsend after all. A clue may come in a letter in the files, from the princess herself to Eden in August 1955. She says she will see Townsend in October: "It is only by seeing him in this way that I feel I can properly decide whether I can marry him or not." This letter indicates perhaps that her determination to marry him was not quite as strong as has been believed.

Image copyright Shutterstock Image caption Princess Margaret returns to London from Balmoral in October 1955 for her meeting with Townsend The National Archives file contains the three drafts of what is called "Summary of Procedure". The princess would have said: "I have come to the conclusion that in all the circumstances the best course for me to follow is to marry P.T. and give up my rights to the Succession…" This formulation is not as romantic as an earlier one which read: "I have come to the conclusion that it is necessary for my future happiness that I should marry P.T." Townsend was still frowned on by some in the establishment and the removal by officials of the reference to Margaret's happiness and the use of his initials only may reflect this. I think that at least 75% of the electorate would be in favour of the marriage being somehow allowed Lord Kilmuir, Lord Chancellor The Queen would then consult her government and the Commonwealth governments, who had, the papers show, actually been squared by Eden beforehand. The government, at the Queen's request, would introduce legislation to amend the 1772 Act and Commonwealth governments would do the same. A statement by the prime minister to Parliament was drawn up explaining why.

It stated that the Act was "out of harmony with modern conditions". The statement also drew on some devastating criticism of the Act by the Lord Chancellor Lord Kilmuir, who as David Maxwell Fyfe had been a barrister and Home Secretary. In a scrawled letter to Eden in September 1955 he stated his view that the Act probably did not even apply to Princess Margaret because of its contradictory drafting. He wrote: "This Act has no pride of ancestry, is badly drawn and uncertain and embarrassing in its effect." Kilmuir added: "I think that at least 75% of the electorate would be in favour of the marriage being somehow allowed." That helps to explain why the government was so receptive to the plan for the princess to marry. But when she met Townsend in October, she, or he, decided against the marriage. And yet the image remains in the public imagination of a cornered monarch, a hostile government and a young woman forced to give up her war hero. Postscript: On 6 May 1960 Princess Margaret married the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Lord Snowdon and Viscount Linley.

In 2015 the 1772 Act was replaced by the Succession to the Crown Act which lays down that only the nearest six people in line to the throne now have to get the monarch's permission to marry. (Princess Margaret ceased to be among the six nearest in line with the birth of Zara Phillips, the Queen's second grandchild, in 1981.) Image copyright PA H R H The Princess Margaret - Telegraph Obituaries H R H The Princess Margaret Her Royal Highness the Princess Margaret, the Queen's only sister, who has died aged 71, aroused both affection and controversy. Photo: GETTY IMAGES 12:01AM GMT 11 Feb 2002 She had talents and qualities which might, perhaps, have blossomed more fully away from the constant blaze of publicity. She had defects which, precisely because she was completely honest, she neither would nor could conceal: wilfulness, a dislike of being crossed and an inability to reconcile her royal status with her love of the bohemian. A complex figure, Princess Margaret seemed, despite her exalted position, more often than not to have been dealt a peculiarly bad hand for the game of life.

She was, in childhood, the heir presumptive to the heir apparent, a role which often appeared to impose many of the obligations but few of the privileges attaching to her elder sister. Most crucially of all, her position meant that it was deemed impossible for her to marry the man of her choice, since he had been divorced. This cast a blight over much of her life and soured her relationship with the Establishment - and also, to a certain extent, with the public. In later years, as the Queen's own family grew, Princess Margaret moved away from the limelight, but, despite taking on at least the conventional number of royal appointments, she never managed to find a truly absorbing interest - such as that which her niece the Princess Royal achieved with the Save the Children Fund. It was Princess Margaret's misfortune to have narrowly missed being a Queen - a job at which she might have been rather good - while being saddled with the secondary task of being a Princess, for which she was temperamentally unsuited. But if at times she appeared to have lost her purpose, one of her outstanding - and most durable - qualities was her deep sense of loyalty to her sister, the Queen.

Related Articles The Earl of Dudley 26 Nov 2013 She was born at Glamis Castle, the historic family seat of her maternal grandfather, the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, on August 21 1930 - four and a half years after her elder sister, Princess Elizabeth of York. The Prince of Wales being then unmarried, Princess Margaret's father, the Duke of York, was likely to become heir to the throne. So the Home Secretary, J R Clynes, a former organiser of the Lancashire Gasworkers' Union, had to be present when the child was born. Although the Home Secretary was no longer obliged to be in the room, as Sir James Graham had been (behind a screen) when Queen Victoria's eldest son arrived, the fear that a substitute heir might appear in a warming pan was still officially maintained. The baby was a fortnight late. So the wretched Clynes was lodged in the neighbourhood for weeks on end. This tradition was subsequently abandoned. It was the first important royal birth to take place in Scotland since that of Charles I in 1600. Her parents had not expected a daughter, and so had no names in mind.

Prolonged debate ensued, with her father favouring Ann and King George V dissenting. Margaret was a popular choice in Scotland, where it had been a royal name since the 11th-century Queen and Saint Margaret, the sister of Edgar Atheling, bride of King Malcolm Canmore. For her second name she was called Rose, after her aunt, the Countess Granville. A sentimental story goes that at first her elder sister, Princess Elizabeth ("Lilibet") called her "Bud" on the ground that she was "not a real Rose yet". For years the press referred to her by both names in conjunction, though the family never called her anything but Margaret. Intelligent and forward for her age, Princess Margaret of York was soon a fluent talker. Yet when the rumour spread throughout the country that she was deaf and dumb, no denials could scotch it. The Duke of York would say to guests held captive by his talkative and amusing little Princess: "This is my deaf and dumb child." Despite the difference in age, the sibling Princesses were close and extremely devoted.

These early years were spent in a London house, 145 Piccadilly (later demolished after a highly publicised "siege" when it was occupied by squatters in the 1970s), and at Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park. Royal Lodge, a Regency house once occupied by the Prince Regent himself, was much decayed when the Yorks moved in, and they rebuilt it almost entirely. When Princess Margaret was barely 18 months old a new governess, who had previously been with Lord and Lady Granville's children, was taken on for a trial of a month; Marion Crawford, nicknamed "Crawfie", was to stay for 17 years. With the exception of the Princess's parents, Crawfie was the most significant educational influence in her life. In retirement Crawfie was held to have betrayed her royal trust by publishing her reminiscences, but until the late 1940s she was a much liked and respected figure in the family circle.

Until the Abdication of Princess Margaret's "Uncle David", King Edward VIII - a regular visitor who enjoyed playing Happy Families and Racing Demon with his nieces after tea - life with the Yorks was sheltered and well-ordered. At the weekends in Windsor Great Park the girls took riding lessons; there were annual excursions to the Royal Tournament and the pantomime; at King George V's personal request Crawfie taught both girls "a decent hand"; suitable guests like their cousins, the Harewoods, occasionally called for tea; their parents attended bath-time and frequently followed this with pillow fights. It was all very comfortable and cosy. The Abdication, when Princess Margaret was six years old, changed this life dramatically. The two Princesses, who had always been objects of enormous popular interest, were taken from Piccadilly to Marlborough House to witness with their grandmother, Queen Mary, the formal proclamation of King George VI at St James's Palace. Six months later, wearing lightweight golden coronets especially designed by their father, they saw their parents crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Afterwards the Princess, still not yet seven years old, took her place with the rest of the Royal Family to acknowledge the plaudits of the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Her sister already looked regal and radiant. But Princess Margaret's expression in the official photograph displayed a tentative unease which was to recur throughout her life. For the first time she found herself in the full glare of the limelight. Yet while her sister was clearly on centre stage she was only on the fringe. And as life progressed she was to move ever closer to the wings. "I have only just learned how to spell York," the Princess was reported to have said at the time, "and now I am not to use it any more. I am to sign myself Margaret all alone." Until then their parents had been scrupulous about treating their two daughters as equally as age allowed. But now it was different. Princess Elizabeth had to be groomed for monarchy. Princess Margaret was already showing signs of an extrovert nature, which one royal writer has contrasted with her sister's as "less solemn, less conscientious and altogether less well-mannered". Her father, already inclined to indulge his younger girl, saw no great reason to curb these tendencies.

Her elder sister was not so lenient: even at the 1937 Coronation she had, as Crawfie noted, to "nudge her once or twice when she played with the prayer books too loudly". The sisters always enjoyed a loving relationship, but from almost the earliest times it was fraught with difficulties. The dutiful elder was not always able to conceal her exasperation with the wayward younger. During the Second World War the two Princesses were always together, part of the time at Windsor Castle and partly at Balmoral. They were rarely seen in public, but in October 1940 they sent a cheering message across the wireless airwaves from Windsor on "Uncle Mac's" programme, Children's Hour. When she had done her bit Princess Elizabeth memorably exhorted her sister ("Come on, Margaret") to add her own "Goodnight and good luck to you all". The two Princesses also put on several pantomimes at Windsor. As well as their education at Crawfie's hands, the Princesses benefited from the tuition of a French governess of a different and more sensitive kind, the Vicomtesse de Bellaigue.

By the end of the war Princess Margaret was nearly 15: pretty, excellent company and the apple of her father's eye. She was also found by the Royal Household to be thoughtful for others, though she could equally show signs of being spoilt and demanding. A gifted pianist and singer, a wonderful mimic, she was soon exhibiting what, by royal standards, was almost raffishness. It did not sit altogether easily with the straitlaced style of the post-war palace. Not that this slightly mischievous streak was without value. When her sister became engaged to Prince Philip, for example, Mahatma Gandhi sent a loin cloth which he had woven on his own loom. Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy, had indicated that this was an appropriate present, but Queen Mary was not amused and demanded it be withdrawn. When she conducted a formal inspection, though, the offending cloth was still there. Luckily Princess Margaret saw it before the old Queen and was able to prevent a nasty scene by spiriting it out of sight. In January 1947 she went with the King and Queen and Princess Elizabeth on a long voyage in Vanguard and a Royal Tour of South Africa, for which General Smuts had been pressing.

It was an exhausting undertaking for all concerned, but Princess Margaret was the life and soul of the party. The Household in attendance included a gallant and good-looking equerry, Group Captain Peter Townsend. Almost all the women in the party were captivated by his charm. Meanwhile, back in London in the summer of 1947, her elder sister became engaged to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), who was created Duke of Edinburgh on the eve of the wedding. Princess Margaret, now 17, was a bridesmaid and then, for the first time, she was separated from her sister. Loving dancing and gaiety, Princess Margaret threw herself into the pleasures of "coming out". She had already begun to perform a few Royal duties - including the launching of the Union Castle liner Edinburgh Castle at Harland & Wolff's yard in Belfast - but was still thought too young to do more than complete her education and enjoy herself. She soon established a group of close friends from the landed aristocracy known by the constantly attentive press as "the Margaret Set". They were entertaining, but they did not in themselves satisfy a yearning for something else in her nature.

Her public duties increased, but not her contentment. Gay and laughing, often witty - and sometimes bitingly sharp to those who presumed too far - she was at that time a popular public figure, but far from fulfilled within. The death of her father, whom she had loved deeply, in February 1952, brought her great distress; and so did Crawfie's capitulation to public curiosity. Already some observers were uneasy about the sultry young Princess. Queen Mary, who described her as "espiegle" or "mischievous", felt - somewhat uncharacteristically - that "she is so outrageously amusing that one can't help encouraging her". The diarist Chips Channon wondered, after meeting her at Ascot, what was to become of her, and suggested with some prescience that "there is already a Marie-Antoinette aroma about her". Under these circumstances, the Townsend friendship was regarded as a beneficial and steadying one. Unfortunately, though, it went wrong. Group Captain Townsend, although divorced with two sons, had long been in demand at Court, where his good manners, good looks and readiness to please won golden opinions. Even before the King died, Townsend and Princess Margaret fell in love.

Shortly after the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Townsend and Princess Margaret told the Queen and Queen Mother that they wished to marry. Under the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 all members of the Royal Family in line of succession are required to ask the Sovereign's permission to marry. The law compelled the new Queen to seek the advice of her prime minister. Sir Winston Churchill was adamant, and so was Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury. For the young Queen's sister to have been seen to get away with what the Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson had not would have been a disastrous start to the reign. A clandestine, discreet relationship might perhaps have been tolerated, but the Princess was in no mood to pursue a secret love. In the immediate aftermath of the Coronation she was observed brushing her hand along Townsend's impressive set of medals in an all too intimate gesture. The American press took up the story, and inevitably the British followed suit. After representations from the Palace secretariat, Churchill agreed to advise the Queen that Townsend must go, and the equerry was posted to Brussels, as Air Attache to the British Embassy there. It was agreed that the two could correspond, but not meet for at least a year.

It was a far from satisfactory arrangement, but in the eyes of the cautious courtiers it averted scandal and controversy. Some of the couple's friends thought that, even if Townsend had not been divorced, it might not have been a successful marriage; for although he was a gallant Battle of Britain pilot, who had been awarded the DSO, DFC and Bar, he was inward-looking and not, it was felt, forceful enough to cope with the glamorous but exceptionally strong-willed Princess. However that may be, there were other considerations both of Church and State. Perhaps if Princess Margaret had been willing to renounce her right of succession to the throne and her royal title, the difficulties could have been surmounted. But she had no intention of doing so. In Brussels, Townsend was the target of the world's press. For her part, Princess Margaret went disconsolately to Rhodesia, on an official tour with her mother. It turned out to be more than two years before the Group Captain returned to England in October 1955. The two were still very much in love, and a meeting was arranged at the Berkshire house of the Princess's cousin, Mrs John Wills.

There was no hope that their reunion could be conducted away from the public gaze, for the press were everywhere. Everyone - from the Marquess of Salisbury, who threatened to resign from the Cabinet, to The Times, which said that happiness was a "spiritual state" in which "the most precious element may be the sense of duty done" - now felt free to offer an opinion. It was hardly surprising that after a 90-minute meeting at Clarence House the Princess and the Group Captain told first Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and then the Queen that there would be no marriage. They asked only for two concessions: that they should be allowed to continue seeing each other; and that they - or rather the Princess - should be allowed to issue a public statement. The Princess's statement wrung many hearts. "I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend," she said. "I have been aware that subject to my renouncing my rights of succession it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage, but mindful of the Church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others.

"I have reached this decision entirely alone, and in doing so I have been strengthened by the unfailing support and devotion of Group Captain Peter Townsend. I am deeply grateful for the concern of all those who constantly prayed for my happiness." Many echoed the view of Harold Nicolson, who wrote of his love and admiration for this "great act of self-sacrifice"; but there was a significant body of dissent which believed, in the words of the Manchester Guardian, that "in the long run it will not redound to the credit or influence of those who have been most persistent in denying the Princess the same liberty that is enjoyed by the rest of her fellow citizens". The couple continued to see each other amid sporadic and unwelcome bursts of publicity, but Townsend again went abroad and in 1959 married a 20-year-old Belgian tobacco heiress. Many years later, after personal trials and tribulations, Princess Margaret believed that her life would have been happier if the marriage had taken place, and felt some bitterness towards those who had opposed it - such as the courtier Sir Alan ("Tommy") Lascelles. But the decision was, as she said, hers alone.

Various royal substitutes - Prince Christian of Hanover, Prince Bertil of Sweden - were canvassed by the public and the newspapers. But a marriage of convenience held no appeal for Princess Margaret. She went on a month's tour of the West Indies and in 1958 returned there on the Queen's behalf to inaugurate at Port of Spain the Legislature of the newly created (and short-lived) Federation of the West Indies. At home she undertook more public engagements. She began a series of official journeys to foreign countries and Commonwealth territories; but although she tried to put a brave face on her disappointments she no longer seemed to be the shining Princess the public had known, and her relations with the press deteriorated. She was photographed by Antony Armstrong-Jones, a photographer and a nephew of Oliver Messel, the designer. It had been a meeting on a purely professional basis, but in the autumn of 1959 he was one of the guests at a weekend party given for Princess Margaret by Lord and Lady Rupert Nevill. Acquaintance quickly grew into a close friendship, and in February 1960 the Queen gave her consent to their engagement under the Royal Marriages Act.

Armstrong-Jones himself came from a broken home - his father, a Welsh lawyer, had married three times, while his mother, the former Anne Messel, was now married to the Earl of Rosse - but seemed suitable enough both for the Princess and for the public. An Old Etonian, he had read architecture at Cambridge, where he had coxed the university boat. Like the Princess, he had a taste for the arts, a keen sense of humour and a wide circle of rather raffish friends. They received a great ovation when they appeared together in the royal box at Covent Garden, and on May 6 1960 they were married in Westminster Abbey. Huge crowds greeted them with enthusiasm and they were lent the Royal Yacht Britannia for a six-week honeymoon in the Caribbean. Calypsos were written and sung in their honour at each island they visited, and Princess Margaret's love of the West Indies was still more firmly established. It seemed that the clouds had lifted. Established in Kensington Palace, they entertained actors and artists, playwrights and television stars, and established a glamorous reputation which chimed well with the "swinging" mood of the Sixties.

Despite marrying into the Royal Family, Armstrong-Jones continued his career as a photographer, not only as an accomplished chronicler of royalty but also as a brilliant photographer for the Sunday Times Magazine and later for The Daily Telegraph. It was a world which had not previously received royal recognition. In October 1961, Armstrong-Jones was created Earl of Snowdon, and a month later their son, David, styled Viscount Linley, was born. On May 1 1964, there was a second child, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones. Princess Margaret's success as a mother revealed her strengths: her deep capacity for affection and love of her immediate family; and concern for the children's well-being and pride in their achievements. The Princess herself continued to assemble an impressive portfolio of traditional royal jobs. She became Chancellor of the University of Keele; president of the Girl Guides (an appropriate appointment in view of her childhood involvement with the Buckingham Palace Guides and Brownies); president of the Victoria League and of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She was closely involved with the Dockland Settlement, Dr Barnardo's, the Royal Ballet and the Sadler's Wells Trust.

While the Queen and Prince Philip gave an impression of robust and typically British suspicion of intellectuals and dangerous creative talent, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon acted as the Royal Family's flag-bearers in the world of the arts. Towards the end of the 1960s Princess Margaret told one interviewer: "In my own sort of humble way I have always tried to take some part of the burden off my sister. She can't do it all, you know. I leap at the opportunity of doing lots of different things to help." This was true, but unfortunately she continued to be dogged by unluckiness in love. Towards the end of the 1960s rumours of a rift in her marriage grew apace. Lord Snowdon was often away on professional photographic assignments and continued to maintain his own cottage in Sussex. She herself took regular and separate holidays on the Caribbean island of Mustique, where her old friend Colin Tennant had made her a wedding present of a holiday home designed by Oliver Messel. The salacious European press began to run rumours of divorce. By the early 1970s the British popular press had joined in the game and the couple's separate lives became common knowledge.

Princess Margaret began a romantic friendship with 27-year-old Roddy Llewellyn, son of Colonel Harry Llewellyn who had won Britain's gold medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics riding a horse called Foxhunter. Young Llewellyn, however, had not followed in his father's conventional footsteps but was seen as a Sixties "drop-out" with no visible means of support other than forays into pop singing and landscape gardening. While Llewellyn was clearly kind and thoughtful towards Princess Margaret, he was also unpredictable, naive and, in terms of attracting adverse attention from press and public, accident-prone. As a result, the years of their friendship, although at times providing considerable happiness for the Princess, were punctuated by a series of incidents tailor-made for ridicule. Their evident infatuation gave rise to much unfavourable comment in the House of Commons as well as in the press. Princess Margaret's popularity sank to a low level - Willie Hamilton, the republican Labour MP, called her "a wayward woman" - and her sense of unfulfilment grew more profound.

In February 1976 the News of the World ran an illustrated front page story about the Princess's holiday on Mustique. Llewellyn featured prominently in this. There followed an unseemly brouhaha, with the Snowdons' marriage making daily headlines until on March 19 a formal separation was announced. This was followed by divorce two years later. Snowdon remarried, Llewellyn married, and the Princess was once more alone. Anxiety about her health added to her woes. In 1985 there was a scare about lung cancer when part of her lung was removed, though this did not stop her continuing to smoke heavily. In 1998 the Princess suffered a stroke while on holiday on Mustique. After being examined by a local doctor she was flown by air ambulance to Barbados. When she arrived back in Britain the next day, she was taken to the King Edward VII Hospital in London, where a few weeks earlier she had visited her mother, the Queen Mother, who had undergone a second hip replacement. The next year, again in Mustique, the Princess suffered bad burns to her feet after stepping into a scalding bath or shower.

Indeed, when The Earl and Countess of Wessex were married in June 1999, it was Princess Margaret who arrived in a wheelchair while the Queen Mother walked with the aid of a stick to her seat in St George's Chapel, Windsor. In March 2001 she suffered another stroke, which affected her mobility in the left side and also impaired her vision. In the last months of her life, when she appeared in public it was always in a wheelchair; she also wore heavy dark glasses. However, three months after the wedding of the Earl and Countess of Wessex she had taken up public duties again, her first engagement being to open a counselling project in Aberdeen for abused children. Throughout her travails, the Princess continued to undertake for as long as she was well a full round of public duties, though the emergence of a new generation of newsworthy royals meant that she was not much noticed by the media. She was particularly proud of her colonelcies of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars, the Highland Fusiliers of Canada, the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, the Princess Louise Fusiliers and the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.

In 1947, when King George VI ceased to be Emperor of India, he made a final bestowal of the Order of the Crown of India on his two daughters so that Princess Margaret was the last to be given the privilege of putting CI after her name. She was also a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, and had numerous foreign orders, including the Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands' Lion presented to her when she represented King George VI at the Coronation of Queen Juliana in 1948. Princess Margaret took a keen interest in the arts, especially ballet - she was president of the Royal Ballet and of the Sadler's Wells Trust and patron of the London Festival Ballet. She was also patron of the Edinburgh Hospital named in her honour and of the Royal College of Nursing, the National Council of Nurses and the Institute of Cancer Research. The interest in nursing and medicine was capped by her title of Grand President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.

Altogether, she was president or patron of more than 50 organisations, including the West Indies Olympic Association, Dr Barnardo's, the Sunshine Homes and Schools for Blind Children, the Invalid Children's Aid Association, Chorleywood College for Girls with Little or No Sight and the League of Pity. They all received the same conscientious, intelligent and well-informed support. She took a particular interest in the NSPCC. Addressing the society's annual conference in 1986, the Princess pointed out that there had "recently been some appalling acts of physical violence, but let us not forget that there are thousands of children who suffer from neglect. Thousands more can be stunted physically and emotionally through lack of love and want of proper care. These are the 'forgotten children' who we must never let the world forget." For all her misfortunes, Princess Margaret always retained her sense of fun. She took much pleasure in the success of her children, both of whom inherited their parents' artistic gifts, and who were allowed to pursue independent careers in the arts. This was in marked contrast to the constraints placed on herself.

Despite some press comments to the contrary, she always enjoyed a close relationship with both her mother and elder sister, and she had a wide and loyal circle of sometimes rather unlikely friends. The greatest pleasures and strengths of Princess Margaret's life were her children, her family and close friends, and her Christianity. She also drew constant reward from involvement in those organisations which filled the calendar of her official life, and from her own more personal interests - such as art and architecture. It is a particular shame that such a warm, witty, sophisticated and gifted personality should be remembered chiefly in terms of her flawed romantic life. She deserved much better than that, but the harsh fact is that it was this which attracted the world's attention and not the many dutiful workaday activities in which she was engaged. That this should be so says much more about the world and its peculiar attitude towards the House of Windsor than it does about Princess Margaret. Whatever may have been foolishly and maliciously said at various times, the Princess was a remarkably beautiful and stylish woman who put duty first.

Published February 11 2002 Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend's love affair - things to know about Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend By Katie Jones Oct 11, 2016 When The Crown arrives on Netflix this November, viewers will be given a look inside the life of a young Queen Elizabeth II as she takes to the throne. Yet there's another story to be told alongside the history of the monarch's reign. Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown. Netflix Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The Queen 's fun-loving younger sister Princess Margaret is set to steal the show. Played by British actress Vanessa Kirby, Margaret is caught in a clash of loyalty as she is forced to choose between royal duty and the man she wants to marry, divorced royal equerry Peter Townsend. Early reviews of the show suggest the portrayal of this struggle will leave us sympathizing with Margaret. While we'll have to wait until the first episode streams on November 4 to find out, here's what you need to know about one the most gripping love stories in royal history. Prince William To Become A Full-Time Royal 1. Princess Margaret was a teenager when she first met Peter Townsend.

According to multiple reports , Peter had been interviewed by Margaret's father, George VI, for a position as his equerry, when he first met the 14-year-old princess at Buckingham Palace. Peter later recalled that she was "as unremarkable as one would expect of a 14-year-old girl." Their romance began eight years later, when 22-year-old Margaret fell in love with Peter soon after the death of her father in 1952. Princess Margaret pictured with her sister Elizabeth, her father George VI, and the Queen Mother in 1946. Getty 2. Peter was 16-years older than Margaret, but the age gap wasn't the problem. Long before they fell in love, Peter had served in the Indian Civil Service; when he returned to Britain, he married Miss Cecil Rosemary Pawle after a short engagement. The couple had two sons, but after his wife had an affair, Peter filed for divorce in November 1952. It was his divorced status which eventually made it impossible for Margaret to marry him, as both the Church of England and parliament suggested they were firmly against the match. Peter Townsend in 1955. Getty 3.

It was Margaret's sense of humor, and her natural beauty, which caught Peter's eye. "She was a girl of unusual, intense beauty, confined as it was in her short, slender figure and centered about large purple-blue eyes, generous, sensitive lips, and a complexion as smooth as a peach," Peter is said to have recalled. "She could make you bend double with laughing and also touch you deeply in your heart," he added. Princess Margaret in 1951 Getty 4. Margaret and Peter's relationship was well hidden by the Palace, although a subtle gesture gave their secret away. In its obituary for the princess, the Guardian highlights the moment when the public picked up on her relationship with Peter. On the Queen's Coronation Day in 1953, the princess was seen to flick a piece of fluff from his uniform while waiting outside Westminster Abbey. That gesture was a sure sign that rumors of their romance were true. The news was soon printed in newspapers around the world. 5. The couple's desire to marry sparked a battle between the government and the public, and the Queen was caught in the middle.

Related Story Princess Margaret in Town & Country As Margaret was under the age of 25, the Queen had to consent to her sister's marriage to a divorced man, but her role as Head of the Church of England made this difficult. It didn't help that Winston Churchill , the Prime Minister at the time, said it was unlikely his cabinet would approve of their marriage, despite public support for the couple. Townsend was sent away to work as an air attaché for the British Embassy in Brussels, but speculation around their relationship never died down. Princess Margaret pictured with her sister Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Prince Philip after the coronation ceremony, 1953. Getty 6. The princess eventually put duty before herself. After two years apart, the couple were reunited in 1955, and although Margaret had now turned 25, they were still denied the right to marry. The government, then led by divorced Prime Minister Anthony Eden, decided that if the princess insisted on marrying Townsend, she would be stripped of all her royal privileges as well as her income. This left Margaret in an impossible position and on October 31 of the same year, the princess made her decision clear .

"I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend," she said. "I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But, mindful of the Church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have decided to put these considerations before any others." Princess Margaret with her husband Lord Snowdon and son Viscount Linley shortly after the birth of her daughter, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, 1964. Getty 7. Margaret was said to be heartbroken, but she moved on. Three years later, in May 1960, Margaret married a magazine photographer, Antony Armstrong-Jones, at Westminster Abbey. The couple had two children, David and Sarah, before they divorced in 1978. Peter moved to France and married a young Belgian woman who was said to have a strong resemblance to Margaret. Townsend and the princess met again in 1993, which is thought to be the last time they saw each other.

Margaret died in February 2002 at the age of 71, seven years after Peter died aged 80. Princess Margaret rejected marriage to Townsend 'because she was unsure, not out of duty' | Daily Mail Online Princess Margaret rejected marriage to Townsend 'because she was unsure, not out of duty' comments Doomed love: Princess Margaret with Group Captain Peter Townsend during a royal visit to South Africa in 1947 A newly discovered letter has overturned the long-held view that Princess Margaret was forced not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. Even though they had had a long affair, the Princess was 'uncertain' of her love for the divorcee, the letter reveals. Experts today hailed the 1955 letter - to then Prime Minister Anthony Eden - as an historic find. Prior to the discovery, historians had believed that the Princess decided not to marry the Battle of Britain fighter pilot under pressure from the Queen, as well as members of the court and leading Churchmen.

In a public statement on October 31, 1955, Princess Margaret said: 'Mindful of the Church's teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before others.' But the letter, handwritten from Balmoral on August 15 when Margaret was six days shy of 25, states that she would not see Townsend until October - when she hoped to resolve her terrible dilemma. 'It is only by seeing him in this way that I feel I can properly decide whether I can marry him or not,' she wrote. She said she should be able to inform Eden of her decision by November. 'The Queen of course knows I am writing to you about this, but of course no one else does, and as everything is so uncertain I know you will regard it certainly as a confidence,' she adds. Townsend was Comptroller of the Queen Mother's household when their relationship was exposed in June 1953. He was swiftly despatched to Brussels as an air attaché to quash Press interest.

Margaret, who fell for Townsend as a teenager when he was already married with children, married photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 but they divorced in 1978. The Princess's biographer Christopher Warwick - also a close personal friend - said the 1955 letter 'rewrites history' by showing Margaret to be far stronger than had been thought in the Townsend crisis. 'Here you've got a very determined and confident young woman in control of the situation, telling the Prime Minister that she has not decided and is wavering, which is at odds with what the public was led to believe and certainly with what she told me,' Mr Warwick told the Sunday Telegraph. The letter was discovered this year at the National Archives in Kew by a producer of a Channel 4 docudrama, The Queen. It 'sets a question mark' over the view that Princess Margaret - who died in 2002 aged 71 - sacrificed her relationship out of duty, said Mr Warwick. 'It shows that the love, conceivably, was not as strong as it was to begin with.'

Question: Who did Princess Margaret decide not to marry in 1955
Answer: Group Captain Peter Townsend