Queen received ‘accusatory looks’ from Margaret says expert

The Queen’s younger sister Princess Margaret lived a colourful life including several high-profile romances. The princess was prevented from marrying her first love Captain Peter Townsend because as a divorcee he was deemed inappropriate. However, there was another reason why Margaret ended things with the dashing war hero, a royal biographer has claimed.

Princess Margaret’s doomed relationship with Peter Townsend was a royal scandal in the 1950s.

Captain Townsend was not only 16 years Margaret’s senior but he was a divorcee with two children.

As the head of the church, the Queen could not permit Margaret’s marriage to Peter while his first wife was still alive.

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At the time, marriage was considered a holy institution which the Queen was duty-bound to protect.

Margaret’s decision to end things with Townsend was widely considered to be prompted by pressure from the Palace.

The Princess’s heartbreak following the break up was portrayed in Netflix series The Crown.

However, a royal expert and author has claimed this version of things is far from the truth and that the couple’s love for one another had begun to dwindle when Margaret called it off.

Royal biographer Christopher Warwick author of ‘Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts’ claimed their “love was no longer strong enough”.

He told Express.co.uk: “But the bottom line really is that, and she said it to me, they’d been apart for two years, he’s been in Belgium.

“She said to me, and it’s the only thing she did say because she didn’t discuss the Townsend business even with her closest friends.

“But she did say to me on one occasion ‘well how do you know if you want to marry somebody who you’ve been apart for two years?’ And that was basically it.

“While there was still affection there, the love was no longer strong enough for them to have married.

“So they then took the decision that they wouldn’t. That’s the truth of the matter.”

Two years after her split from Captain Townsend Margaret found love again with photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones.

They tied the knot with a lavish Westminster Abbey royal wedding on May 6, 1960.

While Margaret believed she had found true love with Lord Snowdon their marriage was not to last.

They had two children together David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1961) and Lady Sarah Chatto (1964) and divorced in 1978.

Their marriage broke down amid speculation Margaret was having an affair with Roddy Llewellyn, who was 17 years her junior.

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