Princess Margaret and her taboo relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend almost tempted her to give up her charmed life in the royal family to become his wife.
Margaret “Placed Duty Before Love” And Decided Not To Marry Townsend
Margaret opted not to agree to the marriage because his status as a divorcee meant she would lose her status as a royal. It was a choice hailed as “placing duty before love.”
He entered the Royal Air Force in 1930 and was authorized as a pilot officer in 1935. He was considered a war hero and distinguished combatant pilot in the Battle of Britain in World War II.
During the war, he almost died several times. Deciding life was too short, he later joked that he
“stepped out of the cockpit and married the first pretty girl I met,”
who was his first wife, Rosemary Pawle.
In 1944, Townsend took a position that would change his life. He was the new equerry for King George VI. On his first day at Buckingham Palace, he met Princess Elizabeth (who later became Queen Elizabeth II) and her younger sister, Princess Margaret.
In 1947, his role as equerry allowed him to travel to South Africa with Margaret for a royal tour. At the time, Townsend was thirty-two years old, and Margaret was seventeen.
Clues to their connection surfaced when, in 2017, Daily Mail royal correspondent Craig Brown revealed that on a trip to Belfast, Townsend asked for a room closer to Margaret.
It would have been a massive scandal if anyone found out. It would have severely damaged the royal family’s reputation if the secret was exposed.
Margaret later admitted she had a crush on Townsend upon their first meeting. After Margaret’s father, the King, passed away in 1952, she and Townsend became closer.
Margaret Kept Townsend’s Letters Close While On Her Deathbed
Townsend finally filed for divorce and promptly proposed to Margaret. After the Queen’s coronation, they started going out together in public, and it became clear he was more than a platonic friend.
Margaret’s sister had to approve of the marriage, and the Church of England advised the Queen not to allow her sister to marry Townsend.
The monarchy was still reeling from the embarrassment of Edward VIII’s abdication to marry American socialite and divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Margret wrote a letter stating that she decided to adhere to the Church’s stance on marriage. However, she neglected to mention that by marrying Townsend, she would have to renounce her royal status, something she wasn’t prepared to do.
Townsend married Marie Luce Jamagne in 1959, and Margaret was heartbroken. It should be noted that his new wife bore a striking resemblance to Margaret.
In 1960, Margaret married Antony Armstrong Jones, a photographer. Townsend was said to have met Margaret for lunch in 1992, which was thought to be their final meeting.
Townsend died at his home in France in 1995 at the age of eighty. On Margret’s deathbed, she kept Townsend’s letters close to her. She wanted the letters to be read in 2030, a hundred years after she was born. We must wait until then to discover more about their controversial love story.
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