Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930-2002)

[MaiaMia_53]

I think Margaret was very spoiled, especially by her father growing up, but everyone indulged her as the second child who would not become Queen. In addition, Margaret definitely had a very assertive and rebellious personality. However, I think the fact she became so used to having her way is what ended up making her undesirable character traits even worse when she became an adult.

Margaret got her way right up until she wanted to marry Peter Townsend with whom she had fallen in love with as an adoring adolescent. Everyone loved Townsend and he worked in close proximity to Margaret and Elizabeth in the royal household. Margaret set her eye on him at 15 (similar to how Elizabeth had set her eye on Philip at 13). The difference is that Margaret was the second child with a different temperament than Elizabeth who was more patient and dutiful to a point (Elizabeth was also very strong-minded and determined -- she wanted Philip and she was willing to wait for him without settling for anyone else presented to her).

Also of course, Townsend was married and later divorced, which made his love affair with Margaret impossible coming so soon after Edward VIII abdicated the throne for the divorced Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth and Philip were fortunate in having Lord Louis Mountbatten working extremely hard behind-the-scenes to secure royal and government acceptance of their betrothal. Plus, Philip was not married or divorced, which was the biggest difference.

Margaret being unlucky in love (with being forced to give up Townsend) is I believe what drastically contributed to her personality becoming more difficult as she grew older. She and Tony Armstrong-Jones had a volatile love affair even before they decided to marry. Their temperaments were equally stubborn and highly unsuited (despite being drawn to each other at first by their similarities). Ultimately, they made each other very unhappy. The only good that came from their marriage is their two children.

Margaret was very conscious of her royal status and very prickly about it (possibly because she had been put in a position of either giving up everything she had ever known or giving up the man she loved). Being royal was the only identity she knew from birth. She could not give it up. Most likely she was deeply resentful of being forced to make such a choice, although she may not have realized later how much she had been affected psychologically and emotionally. It's a shame that Margaret was in essence trapped in a royal cage, but would peck anyone's eyes out who dared to breach those royal bars to truly get to know the person she was locked inside herself.

 

[Pranter]

Margaret didn't have to give up Townsend, she could of married him ..she decided to not give up her title/lifestyle.

I'm not sure she came out ahead on that one.


LaRae

 

[MaiaMia_53]

^^ Yes she was given that choice. But it was an impossible choice for a 25-year-old to have to make. Margaret had only known a royal existence and identity. Why do you think that's easy to simply give up because you're in love with someone? It's not that simple.

I realize that there has been a lot of rewriting of history since both Townsend and Margaret are no longer alive to set the record straight, unfortunately.

Those with a vested interest in tweaking what really happened can come up with all the lost letters they want with Margaret saying whatever about not being sure she was in love with Townsend. The fact is that the screws were put to her in a way that those responsible for the machinations figured would keep Margaret in line. If it was up to Elizabeth, she would have granted Margaret her wish (just as Elizabeth herself ended up with the man she truly desired). It was not up to Elizabeth, a young Queen, who felt she had to follow the advice of her mother and government officials. Her husband Philip, is also said to have been against Margaret marrying Townsend.

You state that as if it was such an easy decision for Margaret to make, and 'shame on her for not making the choice to be with her lover.' Like I said, as a person still in their twenties, how are you expected to give up everything you've ever known, including your identity, in order to be with the person you truly love? The people making the ultimatum knew Margaret could not give up her royal lifestyle and her status (which again was her identity since birth). That's not a small thing, no matter how much the status quo today is to portray it as such: "Oh, it's her fault. If she really loved him, she could have given everything up to marry him." Not true. Even Townsend knew she wouldn't be able to give up all she'd known for him, no matter how much they loved each other. And they did love each other, no doubt. As a fifteen-year-old, Margaret flirted with Townsend, but they were both responsible for falling in love, unlike how The Crown apparently portrays what happened. First of all, Townsend was a very tall and a very handsome war hero, and he looked younger than his years. The actor who played him in The Crown is miscast.

Margaret was a mischievous, high-spirited child who was royally spoiled and indulged (partly to make up for her being the second child who would not inherit the throne). That was of course a big mistake. Margaret was known to be an expert mimic who entertained everyone and made them laugh. I've heard it said that she could have been a very good actress, had she not been trapped in a royal life. Again, how do you expect a royally-sheltered and spoiled 25-year-old to understand anything about life and its twists and turns in order to be able to judiciously make such a momentous decision? As I said, the goal for those giving Margaret the ultimatum in the first place was for her not to choose Townsend.

Initially, Margaret and Townsend (when their affair became public) had been kept apart and dissuaded for five years. Both Margaret's parents had tried to discourage her and to interest her in other endeavors, and in other young men closer to her age who were considered more suitable. However, I believe had King George VI not died, the ultimate outcome may have been different, since Margaret was the apple of his eye (and he found it hard to say no to her).

The whole tragic affair is part of a catastrophic British royal history regarding love and marriage that did not start with Princess Margaret. And it certainly did not end with Princess Margaret. The little known, but glamorous and heroically tragic Prince William of Gloucester who died in the 1972, was yet another in a long line of 'denied true love' casualties. Fortunately, post-Diana things have changed. These days, royals are not forced to adhere to government machinations, and antiquated royal traditions, contradictions and demands, when it comes to deciding who they wish to marry.

 

[Pranter]

First off I've read a couple of bios on Margaret so I'm not going by what some tv show portrays.

Secondly never did I say or even insinuate 'shame on her' for her choice.

She was 25. It doesn't matter why she decided as she did..the point is that she made the decision. There was no forcing her to give him up.

Townsend, be of the age and experience he was, should of never encouraged her if he knew she'd never be able to give it up.

You really don't need to post mini-bios on the royals ...most of us have read them, or several of them.


LaRae

 

[MaiaMia_53]

? I do tend to write a lot, and apparently some find that annoying. I don't think I wrote a mini-bio of Margaret though. I just explained what I'm basing my perceptions and opinions on, having read widely about the royals (and in this case about Margaret's childhood, and specifically about the events surrounding her relationship with Townsend). There's been a lot written. And recently, a lot of revisionist history has been surfacing (since Margaret's death and Townsend's death).

Unsurprisingly, on emotional topics regarding love and royal relationships, everyone does not agree. In this case, I am not disagreeing that Margaret's personality got her into most of the trouble she experienced in life. However, I do disagree with the assumption (and the revision) that Margaret was completely free to marry Peter Townsend and that she's the one who decided to give up Townsend all by herself. Nope, she was coerced with an impossible ultimatum, after persuasion and separating them for a long period of time did not work.

I'm not sure how old you are. But to suggest that Townsend is somehow at fault for falling in love, seems as if you are not aware of the many complications and vicissitudes that star-crossed love can bring. After they fell in love, they both remained hopeful that things could work out. Townsend many years later wrote that once the ultimatum was given to Margaret, he understood how difficult a decision it would be for her.

Once again, the people who gave Margaret the ultimatum also knew this. It's not a mystery why she was given such a harsh ultimatum.

 

[Denville]

It wasn't a "terrible ultimatum". She would not have had to give up her title and she would not hav been poor.. but yes at the time, so soon after the Abidication, it wasn't going to be possible for her to continue as a working Princess, if she choose to marry a divorced man. But she could have chosen it. She wasn't ever very keen on royal work.. but she could have lived abroad for a few years, and then probably in later years, she would be able to come back to Britain and lead a normal upper class life. Her family would have ensured that she was not "poor" and she presumably had upper class friends and a circle.. the only difference would be that she wasn't doing royal duties any more. She may have had some guilty feeligns that if she left the RF's work roster and married a divorced man, she was letting her sister down.. but ultimately, it was up to her to choose what she wanted to do.. and she was 25, not 18. and if she did make what she felt was the wrong choice later, that she was not happy when she had given up Townsend, well lots of people have problems and make bad romantic choices.. and end up marrying someone they don't really love because for some reason their first choice wasn't avaialbe. She could have made her marriage to Tony work, better or she could have waited for longer to marry, and picked someone less volatile than him. it seems as if their Marriage was largely based on sexual attraction, a bit of "rebelling" on Marg's part and that neither of them worked very hard at it...

 

[Skippy]

What an honor for Princess Margaret to still be talked about, especially concerning her behavior and relationship with Peter Townsend. I wonder if she would nod satisfied about this?

In some ways I feel for her, she was caught between a rock and a hard place and time was against her. I think her spoiled character made her a sad woman later on.

Then again... how emotionally mature is someone of 25 to be able to make such a decision? Whether she was 'unsure' or not, I think there are only two men who had such an impact in her life: her father and Peter Townsend.
I don't think that Lord Snowdon is among those ranks.

 

[Denville]

How old did she have to be? I think that 25 is young but it is old enough to marry and in her case she knew that she could not just marry anyone or get a divorce easily. So she had to make a "good choice". I think in retrospect she was never going to pick Townsend. She didn't know any other life than being royal, and I think she would only have married him if he was rich in his own right and if she could have remained in the UK and still done some royal duties. Not because she enjoyed them as such but because they were part of her royal life.
I don't know how much she was really in love with Townsend. I think that like with Tony Snowdon there was the element of rebellion or playing at rebellion, in falling for him. and then when she lost him, she apparentlty rushed into marriage with Tony because Townsend had married again, and she wanted to find a husband..
their marriage was never very good, I think neither of them was prepared to work at it.. I don't blame Margaret alone.. but she certainly didn't learn from her earlier life.
I think that as she grew older she got bitter about the fact that she hadn't been able to marry her first love, as she saw changes in the RF which allowed her sisters' children to have divorces or marry divorcees..
Her marriage ended, and while she had other relationships I dont think any of htem worked out, and she became more unpopular with the public.

 

[Denville]

We don't know that Tony knew for sure that he was the father at the time. In those days, before DNA tests could give a definitive answer, there were probably many of those sort of cases involving straying wives, especially within Society circles.

I think Paula Yates's father wasn't her mother's husband either, but turned out to have been TV games show host Hughie Green, so quite similar circumstances.

It's sad that Lord Snowden didn't openly acknowledge Polly years later, but as far as the money is concerned, I think she is quite comfortably off, anyway.

Perhaps he did not want to embarrass the RF by admitting that he had a love child, and felt i was better to keep their relationship private. then again he ended up breaking up his second marriage by having an affair which resulted in a child.

 

[Skippy]

I don't know how old she had to be. Some people are very mature at age 25 where others are only barely 18 years old.
Of course it's all easy talk in hindsight.

I think she grew resentful and bitter over the years, indeed as you said before left behind by history, and perhaps even that she was not given as much respect from the public as she felt entitled to because of her position. But that position requires work and she was more at ease in the high society (perhaps also to make up for things).

Perhaps a better core question could be how happy her rebellion made her? Or perhaps she felt that she had the right to rebel and if others also did that she became haughty. As if she had sole rights to rebel.

 

[Denville]

Yes I think she felt she had the right to rebel, or to act "high and mighty" because of her position. But she didn't quite have the nerve to really flat out rebel. She played at it..
and she did alos have respect for the position of the monarch so I think that as time went on, she got antsy with the younger generation who seemed to her to be "doing what they liked" and NOT being so restricted as she had been in the 50s. But well that's the march of history. Things change and she was unlucky, that when she was in love with Townsend, it just wasn't on to marry a divorced man.. but Anne in the 80s or 90s problaby would have ben allowed to do so.
I think she felt that the younger people, and in particular the ones who had married into the family, were lacking in respect for the royal positon/ the queen. and so she fell out very badly with Diana.. I think she felt that if SHE had to had to toe the line, and she was a Princess, Diana as "not royal" should certainly have behaved herself.

 

[Dee Anna]

The paradox was Margaret lived a very priviliged and yet very restricted, at that time, life. Now a days the next King can and did get divorced and marry a divorced woman.

In the public eye but with no real royal focus or function, had she absolutely loved and been loved by Peter Townsand how much better off she would have been to go that route. She was always going to be the Queen's sister, regardless of rank, and probably much happier had she just let it happen. When Peter proposed he had to know what he was asking of her. Had she trusted him and indeed herself, who knows?

 

[Denville]

I don't think she would have been any happier. I think she would have regretted losing her positon. She would still have been a PRincess, but not a princess who did royal duties, who was surrounded by other royals, who lived in a palace and had the respect of the country. She would have problaby been living abroad for a few years for the upset to die down. Peter would have had some kind of job, and I'll bet she would soon have been bored and miserable and missing her family and her usual life. Look what a miserable life the Duke and Duchess of Windsor had, surrounded by café society, living permanently abroad, with him having nothing to do...
I think Margaret would have been the same...
Peter T loved her but he soudl have left her alone.. He was a good deal older than her. One of the Kings staff said ot him "You must be either mad or bad" when he heard that Peter was involved iwht Margaret

 

[Pranter]

Some folks aren't happy and won't be even if they have the world with a fence around it. Sometimes you have to choose to be happy.

A lot more than love is needed to make a go of things. Emotions are not generally a good measure against which to make decisions.

Margaret made the decision to not marry Townsend. She was not forced to give him up or given an impossible choice.

Townsend had to know how the relationship was likely to end. If he'd of been some young boy I would have a different view...but for someone with his life experience to do that, I just think he was wrong to have gotten involved with her.

I agree with Denville, I don't think it likely she would of lived happily ever after with Townsend either.

That initial 'love' emotion is not enough to carry a couple thru all the adversity they will face (especially in a situation like that) there has to be more there beneath it.


LaRae

 

[Mirabel]

I agree with Denville, I don't think it likely she would of lived happily ever after with Townsend either.

LaRae

I'm not so sure.
There was considerable pressure at the time to separate them, but their feelings for one another remained.

And I remember reading that her friends said she always regretted the decision she'd made.

We'll never know for sure, but I believe Margaret resented the freedom the younger generation had in regard to marriage and divorce, and that is why she went off the rails a bit with her toyboys and celebrity lovers.

 

[Pranter]

I'm not so sure.
There was considerable pressure at the time to separate them, but their feelings for one another remained.

And I remember reading that her friends said she always regretted the decision she'd made.

We'll never know for sure, but I believe Margaret resented the freedom the younger generation had in regard to marriage and divorce, and that is why she went off the rails a bit with her toyboys and celebrity lovers.

I think there was regret on Margaret's part...after all the money and position rarely makes one happy.

I do agree she resented the freedom the younger royals had. Different era.


LaRae

 

[ladongas]

Peter Townsend was a war hero, but he didn't behave in a very heroic way. He seduced- or allowed himself to be seduced by-the much younger daughter of his boss, the King. And he later, at the age of 45, married a 20-year-old girl, who looked remarkably like Princess Margaret.

Interestingly, their daughter Isabelle became a Ralph Lauren model; she currently lives with her family in "The Mill", previously the French country residence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

 

[Skippy]

I don't think it was as black and white as "seduced or seduced by". Things build up over time and they were friends first. He didn't even 'notice' her, that only happened later.
I have read that he was the only one who understood how she felt after the death of her father. Unfortunately, in the end it wasn't to be.

And you can't blame him for marrying a woman who looked like Princess Margaret, can you? Not saying that you 'blame' him, but I mean, it's not forbidden. That woman's name is Marie-Luce Jamagne.
I have read that Princess Margaret felt 'betrayed' when she received Peter Townsend's letter announcing that he was to marry and it's known that she -at that moment- decided to marry Antony Armstrong-Jones. Action-reaction, so to say. Perhaps not necessarily because she truly wanted to marry AT-J.

Anyway, I do think that Peter Townsend was the love of her life, no matter whether she was 'unsure', her later marriage and divorce and subsequent boyfriends. That break between them does seem to have been a turning point for her.

 

[ladongas]

I don't think it was as black and white as "seduced or seduced by". Things build up over time and they were friends first. He didn't even 'notice' her, that only happened later.
I have read that he was the only one who understood how she felt after the death of her father. Unfortunately, in the end it wasn't to be.

And you can't blame him for marrying a woman who looked like Princess Margaret, can you? Not saying that you 'blame' him, but I mean, it's not forbidden. That woman's name is Marie-Luce Jamagne.
I have read that Princess Margaret felt 'betrayed' when she received Peter Townsend's letter announcing that he was to marry and it's known that she -at that moment- decided to marry Antony Armstrong-Jones. Action-reaction, so to say. Perhaps not necessarily because she truly wanted to marry AT-J.

Anyway, I do think that Peter Townsend was the love of her life, no matter whether she was 'unsure', her later marriage and divorce and subsequent boyfriends. That break between them does seem to have been a turning point for her.

Yes, things do build over time, if you let them. I well understand falling head over heels in love, and getting carried away. But she was only 14 when they met. Sometimes you have to distance yourself from potential trouble.

And as for the second Mrs. Townsend looking like PM, that's not surprising. Men frequently have a 'type'! And he apparently liked much younger women- according to Marie-Claire Magazine, Marie-Luce was only 16 when they met. Apparently they went on to have a long and happy marriage.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

It wasn't a "terrible ultimatum". She would not have had to give up her title and she would not hav been poor.. but yes at the time, so soon after the Abidication, it wasn't going to be possible for her to continue as a working Princess, if she choose to marry a divorced man. But she could have chosen it. She wasn't ever very keen on royal work.. but she could have lived abroad for a few years, and then probably in later years, she would be able to come back to Britain and lead a normal upper class life. Her family would have ensured that she was not "poor" and she presumably had upper class friends and a circle.. the only difference would be that she wasn't doing royal duties any more. She may have had some guilty feeligns that if she left the RF's work roster and married a divorced man, she was letting her sister down.. but ultimately, it was up to her to choose what she wanted to do.. and she was 25, not 18. and if she did make what she felt was the wrong choice later, that she was not happy when she had given up Townsend, well lots of people have problems and make bad romantic choices.. and end up marrying someone they don't really love because for some reason their first choice wasn't avaialbe. She could have made her marriage to Tony work, better or she could have waited for longer to marry, and picked someone less volatile than him. it seems as if their Marriage was largely based on sexual attraction, a bit of "rebelling" on Marg's part and that neither of them worked very hard at it...

Once again, hindsight some 60 years after the fact when both Margaret and Townsend are long dead and can not have their say to set the record straight, is like modern-day pretentious, self-serving hindsight.

I base my perceptions on what was respectably written and documented about the episode during their lifetimes and revealed closer to the time of the events that took place. I also remember seeing the devastating look in Margaret's tear-swollen eyes in a photograph taken during the time the announcement came out that she was giving up Townsend.

Seemingly it's easy for you to claim how easy it would have been for Margaret to walk away from her royal status and lifestyle. I seriously doubt that Margaret ever had any grave worries about letting down her sister. Let's face it, Margaret was too selfish and self-centered to feel that way.

Being an HRH was Margaret's only known identity. It's mind-boggling why some commenters here and elsewhere are so judgmental about what they feel Margaret should have been able to do under the harsh circumstances presented to her! She and Townsend had already been separated for five years and were still in love with each other because they had been told to give it some time, and that Margaret could marry him when she was a few years older. Promises, promises. The real hope by those who wished to keep them apart was that distance and time would do the trick and shatter their feelings for each other. It didn't.

Please realize that it was the abdication of Edward VII to marry a divorced woman that was the determining factor hanging over the love between Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend. After King George VI's death, Margaret lost the one person who may ultimately have granted her wishes. Once her father died and her sister became Queen, a great deal changed. The Queen Mother was deeply against Margaret marrying a divorced man, because she was grieving for her husband and she blamed Edward VII and Wallis Windsor for her husband's early death, partly precipitated by the rigors and stress of his serving as King after the abdication crisis. (Of course George VI's death was largely due to his love for smoking cigarettes, but the stress and burden of serving as King was also a contributing factor).

In alliance with the Queen Mother, Prince Philip was also against Margaret marrying Townsend. The British government and clergy were against it as well. With all those factions against Margaret & Townsend, the sympathetic understanding of her sister, Queen Elizabeth could not prevail.

For Margaret, I seriously doubt it was ever about the work involved with the princess title. It was about the identity status of being a princess and being bowed to and catered to which Margaret had been very accustomed to since birth. Once again, why does anyone here look upon that as an easy choice to simply give up, even for love?! Walk in Margaret's shoes please before sitting in judgment! Uh nope, I guess not, eh! Who would want to be inside her shoes, much less inside her self-important, spoiled and royally puffed-up head! ? ?

Margaret was too young, too in love, too spoiled, and too full of herself to understand that her royal identity maybe did not matter as much as her love for Townsend. OTOH, had she made such a decision to give up a royal life that would essentially have cut her off from her family, that would not have been a good start to a marriage with Townsend either. Again, Margaret and Townsend were both placed in an impossible conundrum, and they both paid for falling in love with each other. Now they are paying in death with their love story and their motivations, choices and behavior being re-characterized and twisted. Had Margaret's father lived longer, maybe he would have granted her wish since he cared for both Margaret and Townsend (who had served as his equerry). They could have married in a civil ceremony (with Margaret's royal status remaining in tact) and then been sent off to some ambassadorship duties in a distant Commonwealth. In an earlier more antiquated age, Margaret could have been shipped off to marry a foreign prince or king, thus raising hell or learning how to grow up in a far enough away country from Britain.

I think the current revisionism has happened partly in order to soften and diminish the role that the government played in the star-crossed affair, and also to attribute all the wrongdoing to Margaret while removing any hint of responsibility for her sister's unhappy life from Queen Elizabeth's legacy of upstanding honor, dutifulness and greatness.

The discussion of Margaret's wild affair and disastrous marriage with Tony Armstrong-Jones is a whole 'nother sad and gnarly episode. After giving up Townsend, Margaret apparently became even more grand, rebellious, peremptory, selfish, and a royal pain in the ass toward her sister, mother, and brother-in-law! Is it any wonder why?

 

[MaiaMia_53]

There are indeed some interesting takes in this thread about Margaret's life and motivations. Obviously, we do know that she was very spoiled and indulged growing up and that she had a strong personality and a rebellious nature. Unfortunately, the current revisionism and the inaccurate portrayal of events surrounding her star-crossed affair with Townsend, in the new series, The Crown, has colored some views, especially by very young people who did not grow up during the 1960s and 1970s. ?

I've previously seen excerpts of the series and I'm currently watching the entire series. Already, I'm not happy with the actress who portrays Queen Elizabeth. And Peter Townsend was horribly miscast both physically and personality-wise from what I saw in an excerpt. It appears that Margaret was particularly portrayed in a bad light. I will wait to finish the series, but at this point, I'm afraid it's simply a Gen-X watered down and pretentiously trumped-up version of the fairytale romance of becoming the Queen of England at the age of 25.

I'm not so sure.
There was considerable pressure at the time to separate them, but their feelings for one another remained.

And I remember reading that her friends said she always regretted the decision she'd made.

We'll never know for sure, but I believe Margaret resented the freedom the younger generation had in regard to marriage and divorce, and that is why she went off the rails a bit with her toyboys and celebrity lovers.

I agree with your take, Mirabel. Another very sad fact is that Margaret was horribly used by her royal family members to try and persuade her handsome and dashing young cousin, Prince William of Gloucester to give up the divorced older woman he loved, Hungarian-born beauty, Zuzsui Starkloff, whom William met during his diplomatic sojourn in Japan.

After William's tragic death in an air show crash while piloting a light aircraft, the entire royal family was devastated and never recovered. His death can not totally be ruled out as being partly due to his melancholy state after having given up the woman he loved due to staunch disapproval by the royal firm. Because of the specter of 'divorce' that still hung over the royal family, William reluctantly adhered to his 'royal duty' to sacrifice his personal happiness for royal appearances sake. Before flying in the air show, William had asked his former fiance, Zuzsui, whom he hadn't seen in months to accompany him on the plane ride. Fortunately she did not, or she would have died with him and his story would have largely remained in the dustbin of history.

Six years after William's death, his cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, was allowed to marry a Czech divorcee of German-Hungarian heritage (Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz, now known as Princess Michael). Likely William's death was the precipitous last straw for Princess Margaret too in her already deeply unhappy life. What must she have felt about the role she had played in discouraging William from marrying Zuzsui? Margaret became less cautious in her personal life, which ended in the public scandal/ revelation of her sad affair with young roustabout Roddy Llewellyn on the island of Mustique. Her own unprecedented divorce from Tony, Lord Snowden, quickly followed.

Peter Townsend was a war hero, but he didn't behave in a very heroic way. He seduced- or allowed himself to be seduced by-the much younger daughter of his boss, the King. And he later, at the age of 45, married a 20-year-old girl, who looked remarkably like Princess Margaret....

Well, I would remind you that Princess Anne fell in love with the five years her junior, Timothy Laurence, who worked for her mother. And she fell in love with Laurence likely amidst mutual seducing, prior to divorcing her husband, Captain Mark Phillips.

The fact that Townsend fell in love with Margaret who was about 16 years younger than him, does not or should not take anything away from his heroic exploits in WWII. Please try to keep his courageous service as a British military pilot separate from his failings as a human being who happened to fall in love with someone younger than himself while he was married to another woman.

The fact that Townsend met and married a young French girl who resembled Margaret and who was 25 years younger than him, I think has a great deal to do with how much in love he had been with Margaret. A deep and unrequited love usually has an enormous affect on a person's psyche. Unless you experience it yourself or witness it happen to someone in your family or to a friend, please try not to sit in judgment so casually. And I would suggest that to everyone who has been sitting in judgment of Margaret and Townsend.

I have personal experience of an older friend who when she was in her twenties had been involved in a deep and forbidden love with someone older than her. They eventually married after mutually parting for several years. They were happy together after marrying, but their lives were difficult for a number of reasons. My friend's husband eventually died under tragic circumstances from a difficult illness made even more difficult by having had his integrity smeared and his career and livelihood destroyed during the McCarthy era.

My friend was in her thirties when her husband died. She was devastated by his death, but being young she carried on. They did not have children because he had died only a couple of years after they married. My friend eventually married another man closer to her age and had a child, however, she did not deeply love her second husband, and she never truly got over her first husband. Her love and grief for her first husband remained strong throughout her life, even though it was buried deeply inside her heart.

As far as Princess Margaret rebelling in marrying Tony Armstrong-Jones. Yes, I think rebellion was a big part of it. Also, Margaret decided to marry in a rebound effect after she had learned of Peter Townsend's marriage to a young French woman who resembled her. Unsurprisingly.

 

[Skippy]

Amen. I think that Princess Margaret would have been very pleased with you sticking up for her. And I mean that in a positive way. Or, knowing about her character, she would wonder whose business you have the nerve for interfering in... She was a very complex woman, that's for sure.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

Amen. I think that Princess Margaret would have been very pleased with you sticking up for her. And I mean that in a positive way. Or, knowing about her character, she would wonder whose business you have the nerve for interfering in... She was a very complex woman, that's for sure.

I'm quite sure Princess Margaret would be looking down her nose at all of us, if she even deigned to pay us any attention whatsoever. Pfft!

In no way though, am I trying to 'stick-up' for Margaret. As an observant person, a writer, and someone who feels an understanding of history is very important, I'm a stickler for getting at and upholding the truth as much as possible. I feel this way no matter where the chips may fall in the process of trying to put things together as accurately as the evidence will allow.

 

[AdmirerUS]

I think time will tell with Margaret and how we see her.

She could be a real pip, as many have come out and said. But money alone cannot buy the lifelong, decade long and memorable friendships she had. She definitely had charisma and that was the reason people were drawn to her. And many people were drawn to her - though no one wants to admit that, these days. They would rather trash her by describing her flaws in detail.

Well, every charismatic person I know has HUGE flaws. Flaws that most of the time, their friends put up with because in one way or another, it's worth it. We are like moths to a light until we get burned.

I know in my relationships this says as much about me as it does about my charismatic friends. They have flaws but also attractions that make the baggage worthwhile. No one is all good or all bad - Margaret included. She had great appeal, IMHO. People enjoyed hovering around her life tragedy, as it played out, IMO. And are still dining off the stories about that today. So, who is the more flawed? Margaret or those still using her glow?

 

[MaiaMia_53]

Very thoughtful and well-articulated. I think you are right that now happens to be a period where revisionist slants are taking hold, but that in the long term perhaps all sides of what really happened between Margaret and Townsend may come more fully to light. It just may need the benefit and distance of more years. In some ways, I was surprised that a fictional treatment of Margaret & Townsend has taken place (even as a throw-away subplot), since the details are very complicated and it needs the benefit of more time. For me, the whole The Crown series is a bit premature with Queen Elizabeth II still very much alive. I think it's hard to bring to life a truly accurate (and non-partisan) portrayal during a monarch's lifetime. Although of course, Helen Mirren did a good job portraying a small slice of Elizabeth's life during the aftermath of Diana's death.

And most definitely, we are all hovering over the sad parts of Margaret's life and her prevalent flaws, when in fact she had many appealing characteristics that drew people to her. Plus, even Margaret and Lord Snowden shared some happy moments during their marriage, and they both loved their two children. As middle-aged adults and even as young adults, their children have seemed well-adjusted (although for all we know they may have carried some sadness inside surrounding their parents' bust-ups).

In any case, both Sarah and David seem to be calm, cool and retiring which is opposite to their parents' fiery temperaments. Of course, it's hard to say definitively since neither have been in the limelight (aside from some occasional publicizing of their artistic ventures). They are both vastly creative and accomplished artists, which is the good that they take from their parents.

ETA:
And here's a link to some quite fascinating snippets regarding Margaret posted on Wiki, which strengthen the fact the the Queen would have preferred to grant Margaret her wish to marry Townsend without all the government and church interference. The suggestion of Margaret possibly renouncing her own rights to the throne seems to have been too much for Margaret, although it was a proposal worked out by Anthony Eden and Queen Elizabeth to try and get around the stone wall dissent expressed by the clergy, some royalists, and some politicians, including Churchill. The British public to a large degree was sympathetic to Princess Margaret:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Margaret,_Countess_of_Snowdon

Interesting that the deal put together by the Queen and Eden would have allowed Margaret to keep her royal title, her civil list allowance and even to stay in England and perform public duties. However, the huge opposition from the church and probably from the Queen Mother and others, plus the battle to push through the Queen's proposal which would have required Margaret sacrificing her royal succession rights, apparently was too much for Margaret to bear, or else there was seen to be not a good chance of the Queen's proposal actually being fully accepted.

These details particularly struck me:
"Margaret was grief-stricken by her father's death in 1952 and was prescribed sedatives to help her sleep... Peter Townsend [who had been King George VI's equerry] was appointed Comptroller of her mother's restructured household. By 1953, Townsend was divorced from his first wife and proposed marriage to Margaret. He was 16 years her senior and had two children from his previous marriage. Margaret accepted and informed her sister, the Queen, of her desire to marry Townsend... Churchill informed the Queen that the Dominion prime ministers were unanimously against the marriage and that Parliament would not approve a marriage that would be unrecognized by the Church of England unless Margaret renounced her rights to the throne... "

"Margaret's acquaintance Gore Vidal, the noted American writer, wrote, 'She was far too intelligent for her station in life.' He recalled a conversation with Margaret in which she, discussing her public notoriety, said, 'It was inevitable: when there are two sisters and one is the Queen, who must be the source of honour and all that is good, while the other must be the focus of the most creative malice, the evil sister.'"

"Margaret had spent much of her childhood in the company of her older sister and her parents [a sheltered upbringing] ... She was often viewed as a controversial member of the British royal family. Her divorce earned her negative publicity, and she was romantically associated with several men. Her health gradually deteriorated in the final two decades of her life. *A heavy smoker for most of her adult life, she had a lung operation in 1985, a bout of pneumonia in 1993, and at least three strokes between 1998 and 2001. She died at King Edward VII Hospital on 9 February 2002."

How ironic that Margaret died at the hospital named after the uncle whose abdication had caused her family so much grief. The abdication crisis ultimately had a huge impact on the course of Margaret's life and the outcome of her besotted love affair with Peter Townsend.

* sadly she was a heavy smoker just like her father

 

[Kronprinz]

The worst about Margaret was that she was so lazy. She did few and quite menial royal duties. She never dedicated herself to any causes to make her perks worth it. I understand that spending January and February strolling on the beach in Mustique was much more appealing.

I recall watching a video of her arriving at the hospital in 1999 with four police escorts on motorcycles. I mean, really? By that time she could easily walk down the street and nobody would recognise her.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

^^ Such a negative, put-down attitude. Okay so the evidence shows in your opinion that Margaret didn't carry her royal weight and she acted like a pain-in-the-ass on a regular basis! So what! Are there any redeeming qualities that you can detect in the now long dead Princess Margaret?

...
And as for the second Mrs. Townsend looking like PM, that's not surprising. Men frequently have a 'type'! And he apparently liked much younger women- according to Marie-Claire Magazine, Marie-Luce was only 16 when they met. Apparently they went on to have a long and happy marriage.

Based on Townsend having fallen in love with Margaret who happened to be younger than him, it's not unusual for him to later be attracted to another young lady who resembled and reminded him of the great love he lost. Was his first wife that much younger than him too? If not, I think it's making a lot of assumptions to then say 'younger women' were necessarily Townsend's 'type.'

 

[Kronprinz]

^^ Such a negative, put-down attitude. Okay so the evidence shows in your opinion that Margaret didn't carry her royal weight and she acted like a pain-in-the-ass on a regular basis! So what! Are there any redeeming qualities that you can detect in the now long dead Princess Margaret?

As a person and family member she must have had qualities. As a royal? A disgrace.

Fortunately our dear Queen Elizabeth is nothing like her sister.

 

[Curryong]

Probably you're not old enough, Kronprinz to remember Princess Margaret in the earlier years before her bad health from the late 1990s onwards. She's not my favourite Royal by any means, but in her prime I'd hardly describe her as a disgrace. She undertook over 300 engagements a year when she was younger.

Margaret undertook a sensational tour of the West Indies in 1955 on behalf of her sister, and maintained a link with many West Indies organisations from that time on. She toured the US on the Queen's behalf in 1963 and 1974, Canada in 1974 (regarded as a huge success) and in 1977, Denmark in 1964, Japan in 1969 and 1979. She also toured Australia in 1975, the Philippines in 1980, Swaziland in 1981.

The 'idle' Princess who is 'such a disgrace' represented the Queen at the Independence ceremonies of Jamaica in 1962 and Tuvalu and Dominica in 1978.

Margaret represented the Queen several times at the celebrations of foreign royals, like the wedding of King Badouin of the Belgians in 1960. She was also present on behalf of her sister at the funerals of foreign statesmen.

Margaret was President or Patron of 83 organisations and charities at the time of her death. She was President of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Royal Scottish Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Children for several decades, and had been deeply involved in the national body for nearly fifty years. She was also St Bernados' Patron. In the last year of her life she made at least three visits to them, and held a reception at KP for the charity.

She was also President of I CAN (Invalid Children's Aid WorldWide.) Margaret was also President of the St John's Ambulance Brigade for years and made private as well as official visits to them (I was present at one of them.) She interested herself in the Girl Guides for years as well and served as President and Patron. President/Patron of the Royal Ballet, the Northern Ballet Theatre, Folk Music organisations. She was also C-in-C of several regiments which she regularly visited.

In the 1980s Margaret volunteered to help set up the London hospice and home-care facility for the AIDS organisation Lighthouse, in which she became involved, becoming its first Patron in 1987, when it morphed into the Terence Higgins Trust.

Yes, Margaret was an idle, disgraceful Royal all right!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_1811000/1811151.stm

 

[Denville]

As far as I can recollect, all through the 70s Margaret was seen as idle and not very active.. and more fond of spending money, having affairs, and ilding in Mustique than doing any royal work. And gradauly she did less and less..