Princess Margaret’s Engagement To Antony Armstrong-Jones Was A ‘Shock To The Public’

Princess Margaret’s engagement to Antony Armstrong-Jones was a shock to the public.

The Queen’s younger sister provoked a constitutional crisis when she fell in love with divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend. She sent another shockwave when she announced her engagement to her husband, Armstrong-Jones.

In Andrew Morton’s 1983 book “Andrew: The Playboy Prince,” he discussed how Princess Margaret’s engagement happened just a week after Prince Andrew’s birth.

“Andrew wasn’t the only one to hog the headlines,” Morton wrote.

“A week later, Princess Margaret announced her engagement to Antony Armstrong-Jones, later Lord Snowdon. Again the news came as a shock to the public.”

According to Morton, many assumed that when he was with the royals, it was for his profession as a photographer and not as Princess Margaret’s suitor. Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret met in 1958 and served as the royal family’s photographer. he took portraits of the Queen and her family at Buckingham Palace the year before.

“Nobody knew about their relationship, there wasn't a whisper about it,” Anne de Courcy wrote in her 2008 book “Snowdon: The Biography.“

“She would see him in secret at his studio and he would join her at parties, but no one could pinpoint which man she was interested in. The press focused more on the ones who were seen to be eligible. They didn't think of Tony who was often in the background.”

Prior to Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret found love in Peter Townsend. However, the Queen didn’t allow them to have a happy ending because he was a divorcee.

The Queen made her decide if she wanted to pursue her love or remain a royal. If she chose the first one, she would no longer be a princess, reside at Kensington Palace and receive money from the civil list. So, she decided to end their romance.

Meanwhile, Princess Margaret’s lover was exiled. According to Townsend, he lost so much after their separation because he didn’t only lose his true love but his great love for his country, too.

Margaret’s marriage with Armstrong-Jones ended in divorce. For that reason, Queen Elizabeth II’s sister paved the way for Camilla Parker Bowles and Meghan Markle’s entry to the royal family.