Fans of The Crown – particularly the ones who’ve re-watched the existing four seasons in time for the 9 November release date of series five – will remember that not long after Elizabeth became Queen, she was forced to deny her sister Margaret – played in the first two series by Vanessa Kirby – the permission to marry the man she loved. Peter Townsend was repeatedly referred to as ‘dull’ and ‘too old’ for Margaret by the characters on the show, but who was he actually in real life?
Who was Peter Townsend?
Peter Townsend was a working member of the Royal household who was close to the family and, in the early 1950s, began a romantic relationship with the Queen’s younger sister Princess Margaret, as his first marriage, to socialite Rosemary Pratt, broke down. In series one of The Crown, we see their relationship develop in secret, while he was working as equerry (more on that later) to her father, King George VI.
Did Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend get married?
The will-they-won’t-they narrative made up much of the storyline of series one but, in the end, things were made so difficult for them that in 1955 Margaret released a public statement formally ending the relationship.
‘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,’ she said. ‘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.’
Four years later, he went on to marry Belgian Marie-Luce Jamagne; Margaret would marry photographer Antony Armstrong Jones in 1960, before divorcing in 1978. She never remarried.
Why weren’t Margaret and Peter Townsend allowed to marry?
The reasons that Margaret and Group Captain Townsend weren’t allowed to marry were numerous: for a start, the Church of England – of which Margaret’s sister happened to be the head let’s not forget – forbade divorcees from second marriages if their previous spouse was still alive; Peter’s first wife Rosemary was still very much alive and well and married to her second husband.
The kicker was the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 which forbade a royal from marrying without express permission of the monarch until they were over the age of 25. Reluctantly, the couple agreed to wait while Townsend was posted to Belgium for what was initially supposed to be a temporary position. Ultimately, under huge pressure from her government and palace officials, The Queen did not give her blessings for the pair to marry and they essentially they gave up on their love story.
What did the public think about it?
Margaret and Peter’s forbidden romance was in no way a secret from the public. Despite it reportedly taking the tabloids years to pick up on it owing to Townsend’s official role in the family and his close proximity to the princess, by the mid-fifties support for their marriage was high, with only 17% of public polled objecting to the union.
What was Peter Townsend's job?
Captain Group Townsend held many positions in his career, joining the RAF in 1930 and rising to the rank of Commanding Officer and then eventually Wing Commander before his retirement from the force in 1949.
After meeting King George in 1930s teaching him to fly, the two men formed a friendship and reports suggest the king viewed him as ‘the son he never had’. He joined the Royal household as equerry to the King in 1944, essentially a senior personal assistant usually from a military background, and after the king’s death in 1952 he was kept on as first Master of the Household and then Comptroller to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and retired from the household in 1953.
Did Peter Townsend have children?
With his first wife, Rosemary, Peter had two sons, Giles and Hugo, born in 1942 and 1945 respectively. Giles died in 2015 and Hugo is still alive.
With Marie-Luce he had two daughters, Isabelle and Marie-France, and a son, Pierre. Isabelle went on to model for Ralph Lauren and had a successful career in the late 80s.
Is Peter Townsend still alive?
Peter died in 1995, and it's likely his death - and the effect it had on Princess Margaret - will feature in the upcoming series of The Crown.