Long before all the furore over Prince Harry and whether he will attend the coronation of King Charles III amid ongoing family feuds, there was another royal “spare” whose coronation attendance put the monarch in a difficult position.

Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, became the center of intense media focus after she appeared at the coronation of her sister—for intimately picking some fluff off the shoulder of a handsome divorced equerry.

The gesture confirmed to the eagle-eyed media rumors that had been circulating since Elizabeth acceded to the throne a year earlier, that Margaret was conducting a love affair with the war hero and royal householder Peter Townsend.

Once set into the public domain, the speculation about Margaret’s relationship with Townsend brought to her sister’s door a family crisis that placed her at a constitutional impasse, forcing her to navigate the emotions of her sister and her duties as the reigning monarch and head of the Church of England.

Once set into the public domain, the speculation about Margaret’s relationship with Townsend brought to her sister’s door a family crisis that placed her at a constitutional impasse, forcing her to navigate the emotions of her sister and her duties as the reigning monarch and head of the Church of England.

Once set into the public domain, the speculation about Margaret’s relationship with Townsend brought to her sister’s door a family crisis that placed her at a constitutional impasse, forcing her to navigate the emotions of her sister and her duties as the reigning monarch and head of the Church of England.

Margaret and Townsend

Princess Margaret was born in 1930, the youngest child of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother). Margaret was four years younger than her sister, Elizabeth, known to the family as Lilibet.

Margaret was known as the rebellious, fun-loving and glamorous princess of the 1950s who was particularly close to her father and, after his death, she moved into Clarence House to live with her mother.

Peter Townsend was a World War II Royal Air Force hero who became an equerry (military private secretary) to King George VI in 1944. He was married to Rosemary Pawle from 1941 to 1952 and had two sons, and he formed a close friendship with Princess Margaret, which turned romantic in nature some time after the king’s death in 1952.

Townsend was 15 years Margaret’s senior and as a divorced father of two, untitled and employed within the royal household, and considered an unsuitable match for the young princess.

The couple formed their relationship in private, with rumors circulating about the pair that were kept out of the British press until their coronation appearance.

Coronation Drama

When Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne in February 1952 upon the death of her father, she not only became the figurehead of Britain and the commonwealth, but she also became the functional head of her own family.

As queen, she was crowned at Westminster Abbey a year later, in June 1953, at the age of 27. Princess Margaret was 22 and Townsend, newly divorced, was 38.

At the time of the coronation, European and American press outlets were printing rumors about Margaret and Townsend’s relationship, something that was suppressed in Britain so as not to distract from the queen’s important day.

The princess’ official biographer, Christopher Warwick, wrote in his book Princess Margaret: A Life of Contrasts, of Townsend’s own account of the gesture, which meant the press could no longer ignore the royal romance.

“It was on leaving the royal retiring room [after the abbey ceremony] that Princess Margaret, looking ‘superb, sparkling and ravishing,’ found Peter among the throng. ‘As we chatted’ he wrote, ‘she brushed a bit of fluff off my uniform.'”

Townsend is quoted as saying: “‘It didn’t mean anything to us at the time. It must have been a bit of fur coat I picked up from some dowager in the abbey. I never thought a thing about it, and neither did Margaret. We just laughed over it. Bu that little flick of her hand did it all right. After that, the storm broke.'”

HRH The Princess Margaret, Mrs Peter Townsend?

As the public became aware of the behind-palace-walls romance between Margaret and Townsend, the couple discussed marriage and the princess privately accepted a proposal. His divorced status, however, was to become a central issue.

As a princess in line to inherit the throne under the age of 25, Margaret had to have Queen Elizabeth’s permission to marry. This, as a sister she was willing to give, but as head of the Church of England she faced obstacles.

The church didn’t recognize divorce or remarriage while the spouse of one party was still living. To avoid having to contradict the church’s teachings, the queen asked her 22-year-old sister to wait until she was 25 to marry, and that way she would not need the monarch’s permission.

Townsend was sent to Belgium to work outside the royal household and the pair kept up their relationship, despite the long distance until 1955.

When the princess celebrated her 25th birthday, public interest in her impending marriage decision grew, despite the fact she never officially confirmed the romance. Eventually, after meeting together in London, on October 31, 1955, they gave the press an answer in the form of a statement jointly drafted in the princess’ name.

It announced: “I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But mindful of the Church’s teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before others.

“I have reached this decision entirely alone, and in doing so I have been strengthened by the unfailing support and devotion of Group Captain Townsend.”

Contrary to depictions of the romance in popular culture, Margaret wouldn’t have been required to give up her royal titles, roles and income to marry Townsend. This was revealed in 2004 with the release of classified documents in the National Archives showing that Queen Elizabeth and her prime minister drew up a plan that would have allowed Margaret to remain a princess, to keep her state funding and duties and marry Townsend, but only surrendering her place in the line of succession.

It’s generally believed that the princess decided to end her relationship with Townsend because of conflicts with her faith—to which she was closely bonded—and some realization that a marriage with Townsend may not have lasted.

In 1960 she became engaged to fashion photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. They married later that year and had two children, David (now Lord Snowdon) and Sarah (now Lady Sarah Chatto).

In 1978, after a tumultuous marriage, Margaret became the first British senior royal to obtain a divorce since Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves in 1540.