August Annotations

Margaret & Peter:
Can You Blame the Royals?

Princess Margaret, who died one year ago February 9th, was the first immediate member of the family to divorce. This set in motion the acceptance - albeit reluctant acceptance - of divorce among members of the monarchy. This commentary looks at the situation between Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, her subsequent disasterous relationship, and hints that maybe the Royal Family can’t be blamed for the princess’ unhappiness after all.

Fifty years ago this summer, Her Majesty the Queen was officially crowned in Westminster Abbey. But that was not the only major event of that year. There was one other person who inadvertently began a new chapter in royal history - bringing attention to the divorce barrier and thus changing the rules in the royal family. Princess Margaret, the Queen’s younger sister, is that person.

Margaret, then twenty-three, was in love with forty-two year old Group Captain Peter Townsend. The married father of two sons had previously been an equerry to King George VI. Upon the king’s death, Townsend was moved into Elizabeth II’s service.

Margaret thought he was dashing and was very flirtatious with him. Townsend enjoyed the company of this witty and charming princess, and was soon engaged in an affair with her. She fell in love and wanted to marry him, but the courtiers kept putting her off. Peter had just divorced his wife on the grounds of her adultery. This made him the technically innocent party, but divorce, innocent or not, was frowned upon in the royal family. The monarchy was supposed to be the paragon of virtue, and a royal princess marrying such a man was unacceptable. Also wary of Townsend’s intentions, as they had been in 1936 over the treacherous Wallis Simpson, they told Margaret that she should wait until 25th birthday when she didn’t need the Queen’s or the government’s permission to marry anymore. They hoped that during this waiting period the romance would die out.

The Townsend marriage, it should be noted, was one of wartime haste, and the relationship had dwindled. According to Rosemary Townsend it was because of her husband’s dalliances. Eileen Parker, wife of a Prince Philip aide, also suffered spousal disloyalty and could relate to Rosemary’s situation. “[We] were married to men frequently lured from us by the lustre of glittering prizes.”

Rosemary had become involved with other men as a result of Peter’s trysts, but Princess Margaret was the breaking point. She felt very bitter, and had every right to be: she had given Peter two sons, and he was now carrying on with someone “barely out of ankle socks”. However, Townsend was quick to take advantage of his wife’s adultery and sued for divorce, placing the blame on her. In this he thought he had been very clever: free to do as he wished and also the innocent party. How could anyone object to his relationship with Princess Margaret? But object they did.

Princess Margaret, who had been largely sheltered from the ways of the world, found love with a man who was not so innocent. The Court and the Family were well aware of what the situation was, and wished to keep him from hurting her. His divorce made him an unsuitable partner for a princess, but more to the point the Palace was suspicious of his motives towards this young girl. Might there be other ‘prizes’ that could lure Townsend from Margaret? If he deserted her, not only would it crush the princess, but he would be able to make off with a lot of money and any titles granted him during the union.

Margaret was also third in line to the throne, and at the time was named Regent. If the Queen became incapacitated in any way, Margaret would fill in for her sister. If the Queen had died, Margaret would reign until her nephew Charles came of age. This meant that Peter Townsend would be included in that reign. This was not something the courtiers or the Family looked favorably upon, and so the Palace finally came to a conclusion. They refused to let them marry in England, Margaret would be stripped of her title and income, and the two would have to live abroad for an “indefinite amount of time”. The Palace had threatened to take away Margaret’s material glitter and waited to see what Townsend would do next.

Resentful of what Buckingham Palace proposed, Margaret was not prepared to break away from her family, and was certainly not prepared to let go of the lifestyle of a royal. While part of her was always an independent spirit, at heart she was pure princess. Although she felt defeated by the system, Margaret still loved Townsend even after the two-year waiting period.

But her love was completely shattered by Peter himself when he drafted her letter of renunciation of the relationship. “It was Peter who didn’t want to [go through with the marriage]“, Margaret sadly admitted years later.

Townsend was then sent away as an Air Attache to Brussels, and soon he became involved with a young Belgian tabacco heiress. He wrote to Margaret and told her that he was going to marry her instead. His new wife looked like Margaret, but had all the money in the world to bring to the marriage. The girl was young, beautiful, and wealthy - she was a glittering prize but without the strings attached.

Margaret decided to marry good friend Antony Armstrong-Jones soon after the arrival of Townsend’s letter. She and Tony, as he was called, would have two children together. He was a lot like Margaret: witty, charming, and a great performer. The two sang, danced, traveled and entertained friends, but soon their strong personalities clashed, leaving nothing but bitter feuds and anguish.

Margaret took to drinking and smoking heavily, and was soon having affairs on the side. Tony did so as well, and eventually found a permanent romance with Lucy Lindsay-Hogg. Eventually, after a required cooling-off period, Margaret and Tony decided to split up. The princess was alone again, only now she herself was divorced.

Her Majesty was terribly distressed over the break up of her sister’s marriage. She had never quite gotten over the sadness of Margaret’s broken relationship with Townsend, either. She knew that Margaret had truly loved him, but he was not a good choice in the Queen’s eyes. Elizabeth loved Margaret and had a duty towards her, and had tried to protect her the best she could.

The Queen also learned a valuable lesson from Margaret’s liason with Tony. The princess didn’t really love him the way she loved Townsend, it was more or less a rebound relationship. When Tony and Margaret couldn’t get along anymore - to the point of hatred - Elizabeth knew that divorce would be the only answer. It was not a preferrable course of action, but it had to be done. When the affair with Townsend was on, Elizabeth was partially influenced by the advice of her courtiers and ministers. This time, she acted on her own.

Tragically, the princess would not be able to find a solid romantic relationship, but she would always be nestled snugly into her royal world where she had her sister, mother, children, and friends. Her divorce made the Palace realize that soured relationships were best done away with. Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, Charles and Diana, and the Yorks are good examples of this.

What really would’ve happened if Margaret had married Peter? We will never know, but what we do know is that, although she could not find a true love, she was a high spirited and unique royal personage. Margaret will always be missed.

©2003 MandysRoyalty.org