Elizabeth II’s younger sister was born to shine and love. But, ironically, her star rose in the wrong family and the wrong era.
The brilliant life of Margaret Rose of the House of Windsor was like a supernova, but what a beautiful flash it was. She was born on the night of a perfect storm and was her father’s favorite daughter. Then he was neither king nor even the heir of the first line. And Margaret grew up the youngest, but no less important, child in the lives of her parents.
And then a lot happened at once: the abdication of her uncle Edward from the throne for the American Wallis, the coronation of her father, George VI, and, what is most terrible – the sudden understanding that she will always have to be the shadow of her elder sister – the crown princess now and the queen in the future. Walk slightly behind Elizabeth, and not holding hands as before, take bows after her. To her credit, she never envied Elizabeth, she was oppressed only by the role of her sister’s “train”. And Margaret decided: if she cannot become a queen, then she will be a royal star.
It was not a big problem for the princess to attract attention to herself – she was incredibly pretty, in her way, Audrey Hepburn (with whom she was almost the same age), only more interesting, because of royal blood. At 18, she was already actively interested in fashion and chose clothes based on her preferences. And at 21, she was already the main guest of all London shows of French couturiers. Christian Dior organized a show for Princess Margaret, and she demonstrated the New Look style on the covers of magazines and paraded in the most fashionable styles of clothes at official events, which she was obliged to take part in, being the daughter of the king.
She was not yet 22 when her father, the only person who understood her feelings – the feelings of a “spare”, because he had lived in this status for most of his life, suddenly died. From that moment on, an unbridgeable gap formed between her and Elizabeth. Life in Buckingham Palace was over – according to tradition, it became the home of the new queen, Elizabeth, who hastened to move her mother to Clarence House. And her younger sister was sent there along with her.
It is said that it was then that the affair began between the princess and Captain Peter Townsend, the late king’s head equerry. But it may have all started much earlier. They had known each other for many years; he taught her to ride, took her on horseback rides, looked after her safety on trips, and the fact that Margaret once saw more than a friend in this handsome, mature man is not surprising. They gave themselves away by accident – at one of the events, Margaret, on impulse, brushed a speck of dust from his clothes, and reporters noticed it. It was not difficult to pull the thread and unravel the ball: the 22-year-old sister of the Queen is in love with a groom! It is difficult to imagine a more unfortunate coincidence of circumstances in the biography of the princess’s chosen one: a commoner, divorced, with two children, 16 years older. Only one thing saved him from immediate booing – in the past, a colonel in the Royal Air Force, Townsend was a hero of the Second World War.
For three years, the whole of Great Britain, and after it the whole world, watched with undisguised and merciless attention how the relationship between the princess of the blood and the commoner was developing. It was a difficult period in Margaret’s life. Peter was sent “into exile” (as he described it) – to serve outside the country.
Margaret plunged headlong into royal duties: trips around the country and beyond, to the former British colonies. Invariably brilliant, dressed in the latest fashion, she was one of the most photographed women of royal blood (later this title would pass to Diana). She exposed herself to the cameras – for him, so that he, being far away from her, could see how beautiful she was and how faithful to his love. At that time, she didn’t hang around the English rose, but she was indifferent to courtship; she waited until she turned 25.
Peter was divorced, and the Church, headed by the elder sister, did not approve of such a marriage. But at 25, Margaret could already disobey. To do this, she only had to… renounce her family and give up her titles. However, she was told directly that her actions could be the beginning of a new crisis in the monarchy, and the British monarchy might not survive the second shaking of its foundations in 20 years. When you are only 25, and not only your family but also the whole society is putting pressure on you, and the press is splashing your name, calling you a traitor to the memory of your father, it is difficult to make the right choice.
The denouement came at the end of 1955. Margaret and Peter spent their last weekend together before making their decision. They were even photographed by the paparazzi – she leaving the house, and he standing doomed by the open door, watching her go. As it turned out decades later, on that last evening, Margaret and Peter swore to each other that they would never marry anyone else, since they were not destined to be together. A couple of days later, the princess addressed the people, announcing that she was forever abandoning the idea of marrying Captain Peter Townsend. The kingdom breathed a sigh of relief. And Margaret’s star began its decline.
“Is she that grieving?” – The rhetoric of the newspapers changed dramatically the morning after Margaret’s speech. Those who had called on the princess the day before to remember her duty, which was higher than personal aspirations, now that she had heard them, slandered her: “Well, naturally, the privileges of a spoiled girl turned out to be more important than the love of a commoner.” Margaret endured this mockery stoically. But she did not forgive anyone. For example, the day when the queen and her husband gave an official festive reception in honor of their 10th wedding anniversary, Margaret preferred to spend time with a friend at the theater, showing up only late in the evening and not staying for an hour at the party. This is how she took revenge on her sister for her broken dreams of happiness.
Four years later, Peter called her and said he was getting married. The only person she believed in had betrayed her. And the fact that his chosen one was strikingly similar to Margaret only made it more painful. Well, she would marry him, too. Whom? Even that simpleton, photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones, who was hanging around her like a snake. And a few days later, she proposed to him.
A desperate step, immature revenge that brought happiness to none of the participants. A toxic marriage that lasted 18 years, a bohemian life, a series of young lovers, rapid fading (there was no trace left of the former beauty after just a few years), and universal disgusted condemnation. Today, they prefer not to remember the younger sister of Elizabeth II at all.
Once Britain’s most beautiful princess, she died quietly and alone in 2002, unloved and forgotten. They called her “the English Rose,” and that’s what she was – admired, enjoyed in her company, and discarded when her beauty faded.
PS: In June 1995, after learning that Peter Townsend was dying, Margaret rushed to him. “It was so strange – she was sitting by his bed and they were talking very quietly about something,” Peter’s wife later recalled. “And then, as she was leaving, the princess said that he was the same as before, only grey.”
