Monday 12 April 2004 Princess Margaret - Neither Love nor MoneyIn the early days of this year, the legendary
story of the young and beautiful Princess Margaret sacrificing her one-and-only true love
in favor of loyalty to the Crown got a decided twist when classified files concerning the
incident were released to the public. Prior to the release of these files, the account we
were all accustomed to went something like this
In 1955, barely 20 years since her uncle, King
Edward VIII, decided that Wallis Simpson meant more to him than being king, Margaret was
faced with an eerily similar choice: either marry the divorced war hero Group Captain
Peter Townsend 15 years her senior and a father of two and lose her title,
civil list payment and all rights as a member of the royal family, or dont marry him
and keep her rights and stay in the good graces of the Church and Crown. Of course, we all
know that she made the honorable, if not unromantic, decision to put duty before love. Tragically, her life didnt seem better off
for her decision. Her marriage five years later to Anthony Armstrong-Jones was stormy and
unhappy, and ultimately ended in divorce in 1978, making her the first royal to divorce
since King Henry VIII. Apart from that, despite the jet set and glamorous lifestyle, the
decadent holidays on Mustique, and the celebrity friends, she led what seemed like a
largely empty and unhappy life. As if all this wasnt bad enough, the file
now available to the public in the National Archives tells us it didnt have to be
that way. Unlike the Queen who, as head of the Church of England, was somewhat obliged to
refuse permission for her sisters marriage to a divorcee, it seems the government
had no opposition to Margarets marriage to Townsend. On the contrary, Prime Minister Anthony Eden led
the development of a secret plan that would have allowed Margaret to marry her Prince
Charming with almost no alteration to her existence. Under the terms of the plan, Margaret
could have married Peter Townsend, kept her HRH title, her annual �15,000 civil list
allowance (as well as the additional �9,000-a-year due she was entitled to upon
marriage), and remained in England to carry out her public duties simply by renouncing her
rights, and those of her descendants, to the succession. It was even implied in the file
that Townsend might eventually receive an official allowance of his own. The plan went so
far as to have speeches and letters announcing Margarets decision to marry already
prepared. The file even indicates that the government was
willing to change the law to make her marriage possible. The Lord Chancellor, Lord
Kilmuir, was among those who believed that the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which
prohibited any descendant of George II to marry under the age of 25 without the monarch's
permission, was outdated and an embarrassment that should be repealed. Reportedly, this
sentiment was widespread enough that the Queen was asked if she would agree to its repeal.
Despite being heavily censored, the file reveals that the Queen was at least prepared to
reform the act to apply only to her children, grandchildren and those of the heir
presumptive, which would leave Margaret free to marry without seeking the Queens
consent. Not that repealing or changing the Royal Marriages
Act would have made any technical difference to Margarets cause. According to the
file, the plan stated that Margaret needed only to wait until after her 25th
birthday when she no longer needed the Queens permission to marry. She could then go
directly to the Privy Council and seek permission for her marriage, which, barring any
unforeseen objections from parliament and the Commonwealth, would be readily granted. In
fact, it was only after her 25th birthday that Margaret announced she had
decided not to marry Townsend. So what of her reasons then? If the path was clear
for her marriage to the man she loved, why didnt she seize her chance? Technically
speaking, the only downside to the plan created by the government was that Margaret would
have had to renounce her rights, and the rights of any children she might have, to the
succession. But she must have known even then, as third in line to the throne after Prince
Charles and Princess Anne, it was unlikely that either she or her future children would
ever ascend to the throne, making it reasonable to assume her reasons were not dynastic. Prior to the release of the file, I think
its safe to say that I was not alone in suspecting that perhaps Margaret had chosen
the privileges of being a princess over love. In my mind, she had chosen material gain
over happiness and had paid the price with an unhappy life. Now that we know that there
was never any threat of losing her title, allowance and privileges, I am the first to
recognize that this view was completely unfounded and, quite probably, entirely unfair. Margarets official reason for not marrying
Townsend was that mindful of the churchs teachings that Christian marriage is
indissoluble she could not marry the divorced Townsend. But at the risk of speaking
ill of the deceased and without being judgmental, Margaret did not ever strike me as a
strict Christian, nor did many of her subsequent actions in life seem mindful
of the doctrines of the church. That said, I recognize that her official reason was
probably just that official, but not the real reason. At the end of the day, I think neither love nor
money played a major role in her decision not to marry Peter Townsend. Ironically, I think
it was a combination of loyalty and family pressure that caused her to choose as she did.
Not loyalty to the crown, but loyalty to her sister (the fact that her sister was Queen
was just incidental), who would have been put in a terrible position had Margaret chosen
to marry Townsend. The family pressure, in my opinion, would have come from the Queen
Mother, who still carried so much resentment for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor that the
idea of seeing her daughter make the same choice would have been too much to handle. So, in the end, not much has really changed. Princess Margaret still gave up the man she loved in favor of her family who just happened to represent the Crown and, officially at least, the Church. What has changed is my opinion of a woman who I once believed gave up what was most important to her simply to keep her tiara. In reality, I now believe that Margaret gave up her ticket to happiness for the greater happiness of her family and, quite possibly, the stability of the monarchy. Until next week, - Tori Van Orden
It is perhaps not uncalled for at this point to
briefly highlight two of the many ironies surrounding this incident. Historically speaking, one of Margarets
primary champions, Anthony Eden, was, as Foreign Secretary in 1936, among those in the
government who believed King Edward VIII should choose between abdicating the throne and
marrying Wallis Simpson. On the other side of history, we know that the
queen did not repeal or even amend the Royal Marriages Act when she was asked to consider
it in 1955, a decision that has greatly affected the course of her own sons life
since the day he met his true love, Camilla Parker Bowles. And the saga continues
Read the text of The Royal Marriages Act at http://www.adw03.dial.pipex.com/c-eight/constitu/roymartx.htm. |
Previous Royal Scribe columns can be found in the archive
This page and its contents are �2006 Copyright by Geraldine Voost and may not be
reproduced without the authors permission. The 'Royal Scribe' column is �2005 Copyright by Tori Van Orden Mart�nez who
has kindly given permission for it to be displayed on this website.
This page was last updated on: Sunday, 29-Aug-2004 20:49:05 CEST