Posted by Jane
on 8/11/2009, 21:28:57, in reply to "new letter and new insight on the love between Pricnes Margret and Peter Townsend"
71.120.91.144
By now I've heard so many varying theories that I simply don't know which one to buy. Perhaps it was a combination of several factors, but here are some:
(1) Duty (the official story) -- meaning that a princess close in the royal succession (Margaret being third in line to the throne at the time) was obliged to honor church laws that strongly discouraged divorce. She therefore wished to avoid a major scandal that would place the sovereign into an awkward position by sanctioning the marriage of her only sister to a divorced man.
(2) Practical: the perception that Queen Elizabeth II would either withhold consent to the marriage (as required by the 1772 Royal Marriages Act) or would do so conditionally. That is: Princess Margaret stood to lose her allowance and place in the royal court -- whatever might be said about the line of succession. As of the 1950's, it wasn't entirely certain if these things could work out -- as it was later on in the 1970's and 1980's, when Her Majesty gave consent to her Kent cousins to marry divorced women (and moreover, Catholics at that). Peter Townsend was not a very rich man -- and the two evidently considered the practical aspect of a prospective marriage (could they live in style on his income alone?).
(3) Personal: it's not certain if, in fact, Townsend actually DID propose to the princess. That Margaret had genuine feelings for him -- at least early on -- is not in doubt: perhaps they waned precisely because of the social and practical consequences of a prospective marriage -- as outlind above.
These are not mutually exclusive factors; all in all, it's safe to say that the two probably could not have enjoyed a very happy marriage. I believe that Peter Townsend alluded to this fact in his later years ("Margaret would have had to give up too much"). Whenever somebody makes a major sacrifice -- especially a princess -- there is a high degree of liability to a marriage ("you mean I gave up all that for THIS?").
Message Thread:
« Back to thread