Something I enjoy doing every now and then is going on Wikipedia, and looking up what events took place on this day. I looked up May 6th and learnt that today would have been the wedding anniversary of the Earl and Countess of Snowdon, also known as Antony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret. That was a bit of a happy coincidence, since my favourite royal wedding gown is Princess Margaret's. However, this marriage was a dark one, and I find it hard to believe it was built on true love; both will have had other motivations to marry each other, and they might have loved each other in their own special way, but I don't think they were meant to have a fairy-tale marriage.
Okay, let me get this part out of the way first, because I need to have my fangirl moment. JUST LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL LOOK!!! Honestly, Princess Margaret looked more like a queen than her elder sister and Britain's sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II. A lot of fans of the British Royal Family love Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress, but I honestly thought it made her seem...old. Dull. Boring. Then, along comes the rebellious Princess Margaret in a grand dress made of silk organza in a simple yet stylish fashion, topped off with a large veil under the Poltimore tiara. Yes, that huge thing on her head is just a tiara, apparently. Granted, Queen Elizabeth wore the famous Queen Mary Fringe Tiara for her wedding, which is reputably one of her favourites, and shows off her royal status very well. Yet I can't shake off the feeling that Margaret's wedding look made her appear more queenly than the Queen herself. Strange, given that both gowns were designed by Norman Hartnell.
When Margaret first met Antony, it had been three years since she broke off her engagement with Peter Townsend. This relationship caused nation-wide scandal. Not only was Townsend about fifteen years older than Margaret, he was a divorced man. However, he provided Margaret a certain comfort that she needed when her father, King George VI, had passed away. Perhaps it was his maturity and closeness to her father that might have appealed to her. They had intended to marry, however, the Church of England did not recognise divorces, thus in the eyes of the Church, Peter Townsend was still married. After several years of hardships, separations and false hope, the two decided not to marry.
Margaret met Antony at a dinner party. In the Netflix series, The Crown, Margaret asks her lady-in-waiting to find a way for her to meet other people who don't "breed horses, own land, or know [her] mother." I don't think this was necessarily the same in reality, but given Antony's exotic background, there were definitely some...interesting people at the dinner party. According to reports, the two hit it off right away. Margaret was searching for her identity in a spell of depression, and Antony liked to meet different people. Their relationship was kept fairly secret and out of public view, but there was support from both the Royal Family and the public when the two announced their engagement in 1960. While the Royal Family might have preferred Margaret marry a nobleman with a title, they were happy for her; biographer Anne de Courcy writes, "They all liked him very much—Tony had great charm, very good manners and he knew exactly how to behave. He felt devotion to the royal family, to the Queen, who he admired
immensely. He got on very well with Prince Charles and he adored the
Queen Mother." When the Netflix series depicted this relationship, they failed to demonstrate the loyalty between Antony and the Royal Family. There was good feeling, but I didn't understand why the Royal Family were on Antony's side at the peak of the couple's problems. I still don't, but now I get the feeling that it might've been because Antony stuck to the traditions and rules more than Margaret, which is saying something.
I suspect the real reason Margaret married Antony was because she found his presence a breath of fresh air. He was not like the stuffy, aristocratic men that Margaret was forced to surround herself with by her mother. He was an artist and had a different view of the common man. At the same time, the pressures of finding a husband, and the depression she suffered after her relationship with Townsend, might have pushed her further into Antony's arms so that her family and the public would leave her alone. Furthermore, Townsend had just re-married, which might have opened up some old wounds for Margaret. As for Antony, de Courcy's biography suggests that he was a black sheep in society. He had come from a well-to-do family, but his interests laid outside of the aristocracy and upper middle class social groups. De Courcy also implies that he had also been very sexually liberal, citing a close friend of Antony, "If it moves, he'll have it." Marrying Margaret was more likely to tie him down, remove him from his own circle of friends, and make his private life more public if he wasn't careful, so I questioned why he would marry her at all. The Netflix series almost hints that the reasoning behind his decision was to do with a certain feeling of vindictiveness against his mother, and a desire to be above her. It's a plausible notion, but I think he married her for career ambition. Not only would marrying Margaret erase his promiscuous past by depicting him as a family man, he would have greater access to celebrities for his photographic work. True enough, he became a notable photographer with Vogue and Vanity Fair, working with high-profile celebrities like Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Olivier. Did the two love each other? Probably. Did they love each other enough? No.
The marriage began to deteriorate after a few years. De Courcy argues that the two were constantly competing for "centre-stage," as "they were both pretty strong-willed and accustomed to having their own way, so there were bound to be collisions." Margaret expected Antony to be attentive to her needs, namely intimacy; she was disappointed that Antony generally prioritised his photography over her. The two had different experiences of marriage. Margaret's parents were consistently loving and loyal to each other, while Antony's had divorced. It was a violent marriage, and not necessarily in the abusive way. One biographer noted that the marriage was accompanied by "drugs, alcohol and bizarre behaviour," like Antony leaving notes about why he hated Margaret lying around for her to see. Almost as soon as the cracks were formed, unfaithfulness began to seep through. This might have already been a problem to begin with, seeing as a recent DNA test in the last couple decades proved that Antony fathered an illegitimate child with a friend before marrying Margaret.
During Antony's trips, he began having casual flings, all while Margaret had an affair with his friend, Anthony Barton, and later (and more popularly) with Roddy Llewllyn. In 1969, Antony started a more serious affair with Lady Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs, the idea of which angered Margaret even though she had her own sexual affairs. In Margaret's mind, there was a difference between the kind of affairs she had versus the ones Antony had; Antony's were out of pure lust, whereas Margaret craved the intimacy she lacked with Antony. Naturally, any decent person would agree they were both lecherous. The two eventually separated in 1976, and then became the first royal couple to divorce in 1978 since King Henry VIII.
There was no way this relationship could have had a "happily ever after." The two had opposing personalities that clashed violently, to the point where they were more vindictive against each other than loving. At the same time, they were right for each other in special ways. Antony gave Margaret her adrenaline rush, and Margaret gave Antony the ability to climb the ranks. In the end, they were a doomed romance.
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