story , Elizabeth and Margaret: Love & Loyalty |Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend's Love Affair

 

The series focuses on Margaret's life as she redefined what it meant to be a modern princess. The synopsis reads: "This intimate two-part series profiles Princess Margaret, whose life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolution that transformed Britain during the 20th century. With sumptuous archive and revealing interviews, the series follows Margaret's life as she redefined our image of the modern princess. This deeply personal account reveals how Princess Margaret's character combined the rebellious force of modernity and respect for tradition."

Peter was the King's equerry

Before marrying Anthony Armstrong-Jones and welcoming two children with him, Margaret's first love was Peter Townsend. But what do we know about the man behind the ill-fated romance?

Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend was a Royal Air Force officer, and was equerry to Princess Margaret's father, King George VI, until the King's death in 1952. He then held the same position with Queen Elizabeth until 1953. Peter married his first wife, Rosemary Pawle, in 1941 and the pair had two sons, Giles and Hugo. The marriage eventually fell apart due to his wife's affair with John de László, whom she married following their divorce.

Unfortunately, things were considerably more complicated with Peter, since divorcees weren't allowed to remarry in the Church of England, which Princess Margaret's sister was the head of. As such, the couple were urged to wait until Margaret turned 25 and no longer needed her sister's permission to marry.

Princess Margaret broke off the engagement in 1955

Despite waiting the allotted time, the pair were still met with problems within the monarchy. A new plan was proposed to allow Peter to marry the Princess by removing her from the line of succession, but keeping her royal titles and public duties.

Margaret released a statement confirming that she had broken off the engagement, writing: "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

Following the end of their engagement in 1955, Peter went on to marry Marie-Luce Jamagne in 1959, and the pair had one daughter, Isabelle. Speaking about his relationship with Princess Margaret in his memoir, Time and Chance, he wrote: "I simply hadn't the weight, I knew it, to counterbalance all she would have lost." Peter died aged 80 from stomach cancer in 1995.

  Things to Know About Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend's Love Affair

#. 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.

#. Peter was 16-years older than Margaret, but the age gap wasn't what kept them apart.

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 Margaret's sense of humor, and her natural beauty, that 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.

#. The couple's desire to marry sparked a battle between the government and the public, and the Queen was caught in the middle.

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.

#. 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

#. Margaret was said to be heartbroken, but she moved on.

Three years later, in May 1960, Margaret married a magazine photographer, Antony Armstrong-Jones, later known as Lord Snowden, 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. (Lord Snowden died in January, 2017.)