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UK

The Crown: Did Princess Margaret really have an affair with Group Captain Peter Townsend?

The Crown: Did Princess Margaret really have an affair with Group Captain Peter Townsend?
Newsexplored
22nd January 2017
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The new series charts the life of a young Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) as she ascends to the throne after the death of her father, King George VI (Jared Harris)

As Elizabeth and her new husband Prince Philip (Matt Smith) battle with the pressures of the Crown, a lonely and grief-stricken Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) finds solace in Captain Townsend (Ben Miles), who had served her father since she was 14 years old.

In real life, the affair had begun some years before Elizabeth’s ascension. Anne de Courcy wrote of the couple's doomed romance in Snowdon, the biography of Margaret’s eventual husband.

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“When Townsend accompanied the royal family on a tour of South Africa in 1947, the two were in each other’s company every day. ‘We rode together every morning in that wonderful country, in marvelous weather,’ the Princess told a confidante. ‘That’s when I really fell in love with him.’”

After the death of King George, Townsend was given the role of comptroller of the Queen Mother’s household, and moved with the family to Clarence House.

“It was far easier for Margaret and Townsend to conduct a full-blown love affair within Clarence House, where the Princess had her own apartment, although at that stage the affair was still known only to a few,” de Courcy continued.

HOW TO WATCH THE CROWN

Princess Margaret and Peter TownsendNETFLIX / GETTY

Princess Margaret's affair with Peter Townsend is based on a true story

The Crown: Netflix's new royal drama
Wed, October 5, 2016

Netflix's new royal drama stars Claire Foy as the young monarch and Matt Smith as Prince Philip. The 10-part series focusses on the first days of Elizabeth's reign as Queen as well as her struggle to maintain her marriage.




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Claire Foy admits she has a new respect for the Queen and Prince Phillip after staring in the series

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Claire Foy admits she has a new respect for the Queen and Prince Phillip after staring in the series


As well as being 15 years her senior, Townsend was married when he moved in to Clarence House. But by the time of the Queen’s coronation in 1953, he had divorced his wife and asked Margaret to marry him.

When news broke of the romance – after Margaret was pictured affectionally sweeping fluff off Townsend’s lapel at the coronation – it almost sparked a constitutional crisis much like the one that led to Margaret’s uncle Edward abdicating the throne to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson.

At the time, it was “unthinkable” that a royal could marry someone who was divorced. Under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, the 22-year-old Princess also needed the permission of the Queen before proceeding with the wedding.

THE QUEEN'S LIFE IN PICTURES

The CrownNETFLIX

The Crown shows the lovers embarking on an affair after the death of King George

Princess Margaret and Captain TownsenGETTY

In real life, the affair began in 1947

Winston Churchill, who was resolutely against the union, arranged for Townsend to be posted to Brussels.

As reenacted in The Crown, Margaret discovered the news while on a tour of Rhodesia – a trip which her lover was supposed to have accompanied her on.

Meanwhile, the Queen reportedly tried to amend the Regency Act to allow for Margaret to marry the captain, who was beloved by the family.

After a two year wait, the lovers were reunited in October 1955. Margaret, then third-in-line, had been told that she would have to renounce her claim to the throne and all royal allowances in order to proceed with the wedding.

Princess MargaretGETTY

Margaret was told she would have to renounce her claim to the throne to marry the divorcee

Peter TownsendGETTY

Townsend went on to remarry a woman half his age

She eventually released a statement, announcing: “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.”

In his autobiography, Townsend admitted: “ “I simply hadn't the weight, I knew it, to counterbalance all she would have lost.”

Queen Elizabeth II in pictures
Wed, December 21, 2016

Queen Elizabeth II making her Royal visits in her many colourful and elegant outfits.




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The Queen pictured in December 2016 PA

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The Queen pictured in December 2016

The Princess eventually moved on and married photographer Antony Armstong-Jones, who would become the Earl of Snowdon, in 1960.

Lord Snowdon recently passed away aged 86.

She reportedly accepted his proposal a day after learning that Townsend would marry a young Belgian woman, Marie-Luce Jamagne, who was half his age and resembled the Princess.

The Snowdons had two children – David and Sarah, but their marriage ended in divorce in 1978 amid reports that Margaret had cheated.

Though there were reports of romantic involvements with a string of men, Margaret remained unmarried until her death in 2002.

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