This article recounts the tragic love affair between Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend. Despite their deep affection, their romance was doomed due to Townsend's divorcee status, which would have forced Margaret to relinquish her royal title. The article explores the controversy surrounding their age gap, with allegations that Townsend exploited his position as Margaret's chaperone to pursue the relationship when she was just 14. It delves into the details of their romance, including their meeting in 1944 and the subsequent request for adjoining bedrooms during a visit to Belfast.
He was the tall, handsome and fearless RAF war hero who won three medals for shooting down 11 enemy aircraft during the Second World War.But despite being madly in love with each other, Group Captain Peter Townsend and Princess Margaret's romance ended in tragedy.
And just after she turned 17, a request was made for the captain and Margaret to have adjoining bedrooms during a visit to Belfast. 'After my introduction, down the corridor came two adorable-looking girls; Princess Elizabeth, then 17, and her sister Margaret, 14, all smiles. 'But what ultimately made Princess Margaret so attractive was that behind the dazzling facade, you could find, if you looked for it, a rare softness and sincerity.'
Queen Elizabeth II holding a camera at the Olympic Horse Trials at Badminton, while Princess Margaret sits behind her, smoking a cigarette and watching the action. Captain Peter Townsend is standing behind them After their first meeting, palace lore claims Princess Elizabeth said to her sister: 'Bad luck, he's married.'
Asked on the Rosebud podcast if she thinks Townsend, 15 years Margaret's senior, was taking advantage of his proximity to her, Lady Anne says she did. And although standards were different back then, more than 70 years ago, even today the idea of a married man in his 30s asking to be in such close proximity to a girl of 17 would raise eyebrows.
'But while he has incorporated in our make-up an insatiable capacity for pleasures which flow from love, he seems to have forgotten to build in a monitoring device, to warn us of the unseen snags which may be lurking further on. Unless it be intelligence. Townsend's role was to chaperone the younger princess. Reports of the tour judged the 5ft 1in Margaret to be 'livelier, prettier, more sexually charged' than her elder sister. Yet she was then still only 16.
In fact, as is known, she was only 14 when Townsend arrived as Equerry and Deputy Master of the King's Household, and immediately had a crush on him. Whisky, pills, tranquillisers and cigarettes did little to help with the pain. Only Townsend – soothing, calm and gentle – could lighten her moods, according to royal expert Andrew Morton.Pictured: Group Captain Townsend's pilot's log book, which was sold at auction in 2021
Divorce itself was an explosive subject for the Windsors, who had been badly shaken when the Queen's uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson in 1936. It was subsequently decided that Townsend would be sent away to work as an air attaché for the British Embassy in Brussels for a year, after which, the couple was asked to wait another year.
However, three weeks later, a statement drafted in Princess Margaret's name announced the tragic news that the pair would go their separate ways. How the Daily Mail reported Princess Margaret's announcement that she would not be marrying Group Captain Peter TownsendHaving returned to Belgium heartbroken after Margaret's decision, he later married a 20-year-old heiress named Marie-Luce Jamagne in 1959 and the couple went on to have two daughters and one son.
When Margaret and Townsend met again 37 years after their split, he was happily married to Marie-Luce and they could talk with the same intimacy as they had before.Townsend's autobiography, Time and Chance, was first published in 1978. The most recent edition was released in 2022
ROYAL FAMILY PRINCESS MARGARET GROUP CAPTAIN PETER TOWNSEND LOVE AFFAIR ROYAL SCANDAL
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