He was a mere commoner! And she bought her own tiara at an auction! Yet this Royal marriage on this day was a burst of joy in a bleak Cold War vista. And they became the most glamorous couple in the country…

The wedding of Princess Margaret and society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones on 6 Might 1960 captured the eye of the British nation and an estimated 300 million worldwide viewers as the primary royal wedding ceremony to be televised reside from Westminster Abbey.

Not solely did the ceremony carry a welcome wave of color, pleasure, and glamour to the tense and miserable Chilly Struggle world, nevertheless it was additionally seen as a really clear change to the conservative world of royal protocol.

Actually, the groom was the primary commoner to marry a king's daughter in 400 years, the bride had – God forbid – purchased her crown at public sale relatively than borrowing one from her household's assortment, and the ceremony was additionally attended by present enterprise stars similar to Noël Coward, Anna Massey, Sir Michael Redgrave, Margot Fonteyn and Chinese language-Trinidadian actress and singer Jacqui Chan, who not too long ago turned the groom's girlfriend.

Whereas the 'modernising' side of the royal wedding ceremony might be due to the early 60s – Tony Armstrong-Jones could have been a 'humble' photographer, his mom was a countess and his half-brother was a Lord, inheritor to the Earldom – there was actually celebration all through the nation that Princess Margaret had lastly discovered love.

Simply 5 years in the past the 29-year-old princess broke off her engagement to Group Captain Peter Townsend, a dashing fight veteran within the Battle of Britain and equerry to her father, King George VI, believing her obligation was extra vital than her coronary heart.

Their romance sparked a constitutional disaster when Townsend – who was not solely a commoner but in addition a divorcee – proposed to Margaret in 1952.

There adopted three years of hypothesis about whether or not she would accomplish that, with opinion polls on the time exhibiting that 75 per cent of British residents had been firmly of the opinion that she ought to be allowed to comply with her coronary heart.

However when Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury, expressed his opposition to divorcees marrying within the church, his sister – the Queen and head of the Church of England – was confronted with an inconceivable state of affairs.

She favored Townsend and needed Margaret to be completely satisfied, however she couldn’t assist the wedding.

It was advised behind the scenes that the wedding may occur if Princess Margaret and her youngsters had been faraway from the road of succession.

However there was additionally political opposition from some quarters in Westminster and a troublesome monetary downside: Townsend had no cash aside from his RAF officer's wage.

In the long run, Margaret felt she was trapped in a nook. She felt she had no alternative however to do her royal obligation and break off the engagement.

Little question it was due to this traumatic expertise that she carried out her relationship with Antony Armstrong-Jones with such secrecy, together with his being in nice demand in society and his fame as a photographer, that his look at Buckingham Palace, Sandringham or Balmoral induced no stir among the many royal-watching press.

So when their engagement was formally introduced in February 1960, it got here as an enormous shock to nearly everybody, even some in Armstrong-Jones's personal circle.

The groom's last-minute alternative as greatest man was Dr Roger Gilliat, the distinguished son of the Queen's gynaecologist.

Nonetheless, the unique alternative was that of his good friend Jeremy Fry, a dashing engineer, racing driver and proprietor of the Fry Chocolate Manufacturing facility, who went in opposition to the needs of his mom, the Countess of Ross, and nominated his half-brother Lord Oxmantown.

However simply because the announcement was made on March 19, information emerged that Fry had been convicted of 'utilizing drive for immoral functions' after approaching a person for intercourse.

Fry, a well-known hedonist, had three youngsters along with his spouse Camilla. But it surely was solely in 2004, greater than 40 years after the royal wedding ceremony, that it was revealed that their daughter Polly, born three weeks after Princess Margaret's honeymoon, was truly Tony Armstrong-Jones' daughter.

Given the countless debate concerning the suitability of Group Captain Peter Townsend, one can solely think about the furore there can be if the reality about Tony Armstrong-Jones's secret love life had come to mild.

And as a famend society and magnificence icon, Princess Margaret herself had adopted a demure way of life after her breakup with Peter Townsend, and hypothesis about their marriage by no means appeared in newspaper gossip columns.

Actually, her life was a revolving get together of nightclubs, dances and eating places, a lot in order that her circle of mates among the many elite and showbiz turned often known as the 'Margaret Set'.[

The hearsay mill by no means appeared to cease turning. She was linked to socialite Billy Wallace, Conservative politician the Hon. Peter Ward, Hollywood actor Danny Kaye and singing star Eddie Fisher – father with spouse Debbie Reynolds of the Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher.

One individual she was by no means linked to, nonetheless, was Tony Armstrong-Jones. As soon as the surpise of their engagement evaporated, 1000’s confirmed up on the day of the royal wedding ceremony to line the streets between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.

Consistent with custom, the princess made the brief journey from Clarence Home to Westminster Abbey within the Glass Coach, which is reserved for state events, with the Duke of Edinburgh by her aspect as a stand in for her father George VI, who died in 1952.

The Duke later accompanied Margaret down the aisle and gave her away on the altar, the place Armstrong-Jones and his greatest man had been ready. Because the groom was a civilian, he wore morning costume relatively than navy costume uniform and full regalia.

The newlyweds had been cheered by 1000’s of well-wishers as they proceeded to Buckingham Palace for the marriage breakfast and once more as they appeared within the night on the well-known balcony.

Their honeymoon was a six-week cruise to the Caribbean on the Royal Yacht Britannia – which was greeted by flag-waving crowds and the honking of ship’s horns because it slowly processed down the Thames.

Throughout the voyage they had been in a position to view the marriage current given them by Colin Tennant, the third Baron Glenconner – a plot of land on his non-public Caribbean island, Mustique.

On their return to Britain, they moved into rooms in Kensington Palace and because the husband of a number one member of the Royal household, Tony Armstrong-Jones was created Earl of Snowdon.

Regardless of having two youngsters – David, Viscount Lindley, later the 2nd Earl of Snowdon, and Sarah, now Woman Sarah Chatto – the couple continued to reside a life-style that was a minimum of as bohemian as of their younger, free and single days.

Lord Snowdon was usually away on photoshoots – he turned well-known for his portraits of world notables for publications as numerous as Vogue, Vainness Honest, the Sunday Instances Journal and others. Almost 300 stay within the everlasting assortment of the Nationwide Portrait Gallery.

In the meantime Margaret spent extra time at her beloved island dwelling in Mustique, Les Jolies Eaux – which she adored as a result of it was the one dwelling she ever actually owned.

Unsurprisingly, maybe, on condition that each had been strong-willed , spent plenty of time away from prying eyes and the truth that they had been extensively considered Britain’s most glamorous couple, there have been rumours of infidelity on each side as early as 1967.

Lord Snowdon was usually stated by those that knew him to be bisexual – amongst his lovers within the late Sixties was Woman Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs, daughter of the third Marquess of Studying and the journalist Ann Hills, whereas inside designer Nicky Hallam has claimed to have had an affair with him.

The Princess, in the meantime, was rumoured to have had flings with Robin Douglas-Residence, Mick Jagger, Peter Sellers and Warren Beatty, in addition to being linked to tough-guy actor and real-life gangster John Bindon within the late Sixties.

The gossip turned inconceivable to disregard after Princes Margaret was photographed in February 1976 on a Mustique seaside with Roddy Llewellyn, a 25-year-old society gardener 17 years her junior. It later transpired that the 2 had been having fun with an affair for the earlier three years.

It was clear that Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon had grown aside and that their marriage was now past restore.

The couple separated after her Roddy Llewellyn affair turned public data. Two years later in 1978, Kensington Palace introduced the royal couple had been divorcing.

Not for the primary time, the wedding was to turn into a notable ‘first’ – this time it was the primary royal divorce since King Henry VIII had his fourth marriage, to Anne of Cleves, annulled in 1540.

Lord Snowdon subsequently married Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, former spouse of movie director Sir Michael Lindsay Hogg, in December 1978. 

Their daughter Woman Frances was born the next yr, however the marriage led to a second divorce in 2000 after it was revealed that he had fathered a fathered a son, Jasper in 1998 with Nation Life journalist Melanie Cable-Alexander.

Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon remained as unconventional after their divorce as earlier than it, staying shut mates regardless of their marital variations till Margaret’s dying in February 2002 on the age of 71. 

A heavy smoker since her teenagers, her later years had been marred by ill-health. Lord Snowdon died at his dwelling in Kensington, London, on 13 January 2017 on the age of 86.