Queen Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret, faced an incredibly difficult choice in 1955: marry the military officer Peter Townsend or keep her title.
On 31 October that year, Margaret announced her divorce. Thus ended the “national romance” that had enchanted the whole of Britain. Since then, a myth has developed about the young princess who was forced to refuse marriage to a war hero because of the unwavering position of the government and the strict rules of the royal family.
But was it really the only option? In 1978, the BBC spoke to the war veteran who almost became her husband.
“I think her decision was absolutely the right one in the circumstances,” Townsend told the BBC in an interview which coincidentally coincided with Valentine’s Day.
However, declassified documents after Margaret’s death have shown will help us on the issue of the war in Ukraine” – Trump
A war hero and her first passion
Peter Townsend was a true hero of the Second World War and received numerous honours for his part in the Battle of Britain.
Born in 1914, he joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 19. Among his exploits was shooting down the first German bomber on British soil.
Townsend later told the BBC how he visited the wounded pilot in hospital the next day:
“I thought it could happen to any of us, so I just came to say, ‘After all, we’re not enemies, we’re human beings’.”
Townsend himself was also hit, but remained almost unscathed physically.
After the war, riddled with nerves, he found his place at King George VI’s court as an “esquire” – the officer in charge of order when official into a socialite – and stories of her parties captured the world’s press. But in February 1952 tragedy struck: her father, King George VI, died at the age of 56. Elizabeth’s older sister was next in line to the throne.
At Elizabeth’s coronation in June 1953, a journalist spotted Margaret shaking the dust off Townsend’s jacket. No big deal, but rumours immediately spread.
Photo by Getty Images
In fact, Townsend had already proposed to her – just weeks after their divorce.
Elizabeth asked Margaret to wait a year for emotions to subside after the coronation.
Under the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, a princess had until the age of 25 to get the Queen’s permission to marry, and then the consent of Parliament.
“Expulsion” to Brussels
“The word ‘divorce’ in royal stories was then considered an arna measure,” he recalled to the BBC in 1978.
Margaret returned to London social life, but the passion between them never waned – they corresponded almost every day.
Fateful 25th anniversary
On 21 August 1955, Margaret turned 25 years old. She could now marry anyone she wanted, but the price was high: loss of inheritance rights, an annual income of £6,000, title and status as a member of the royal family.
When Townsend returned from Belgium in October, Margaret realised that marrying him would radically change her life.
“She would lose almost everything,” he recalled.
Public opinion was divided, even relatives had doubts. Townsend recalls:
“For 19 gruelling days we were under the gaze of the world: fifty to a hundred journalists literally never left our side. Under such pressure we and remarriage, so it could perhaps have been more sympathetic to the couple’s situation.
Documents declassified in 2004, two years after Margaret’s death, showed that she could keep her title and income, losing only the right to inheritance and a lavish royal ceremony.
These files also contained a letter from Princess Eden herself to Eden dated August 1955. In it she wrote that she would meet Townsend in October:
“Only when I see him will I be able to decide whether I can be his wife.”
Former BBC royal correspondent Paul Reynolds noted in 2016 that the letter may indicate that Margaret’s determination to marry Townsend was not as strong as previously thought.
However, Townsend himself still believed the princess had made the right decision:
“I would barely have had enough money to