Okay, I’ll do the backstory before we get to the real story. HRH Princess Margaret was Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister. By many accounts, Margaret was the pretty one and the clever one, and maybe even their father’s favorite. Margaret had a difficult life as a princess though, going from unsuitable man to unsuitable man. Finally she settled on Antony Armstrong-Jones, a rather bohemian artist/photographer. Antony (people called him Tony) became the Earl of Snowdon when they married, and their children were given smaller titles too (Viscount and Lady). Tony and Margaret had a difficult marriage because they were both difficult, prickly people. They managed to have two children, David Armstrong-Jones and Lady Sarah. Tony and Margaret divorced in 1978 after 18 years of marriage.
Margaret passed away in 2002, and the first Earl Snowdon passed away in 2017. All this time, I did NOT know that “Earl of Snowdon” was a hereditary title? Meaning, it’s not some one-time title that one dude gets for marrying the Queen’s sister, and he can’t pass it down to his son. But after Tony’s death, David became the new Earl of Snowdon (the second one) and his wife, Serena, became the Countess of Snowdon. Only sh-t is about to get a lot more complicated, because guess what? While the royal reporters were crawling up the Duchess of Sussex’s bum for two years, all of these royal (and royal-adjacent) marriages were falling apart right and left. Not even two weeks after we heard about Peter Phillips’ impending divorce, it looks like the Queen’s nephew is splitting from his wife too:
Princess Margaret’s son the Earl of Snowdon and his wife have announced they are to divorce – the second royal split in a week. The Queen’s nephew and his wife, Serena, the Countess of Snowdon are to separate after more than 25 years of marriage. The Earl -David Armstrong-Jones – is best known for his high-end furniture company Linley, that make bespoke furniture and accessories.
A spokesman for the couple said: ‘The Earl and Countess of Snowdon have amicably agreed that their marriage has come to an end and that they shall be divorced. They ask that the press respect their privacy and that of their family.’
The couple wed in October 1993 and have two children Viscount Linley, Charles Armstrong-Jones and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones. The Earl’s mother Margaret, the Queen’s sister, died in 2002 and he became the 2nd Earl of Snowdon following the death of his father the Earl of Snowdon, celebrity photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, in 2017.
I seem to remember some gossip about how the Queen was pretty close to her niece and nephew, and while the Queen didn’t really care for Tony that much, she didn’t take away his title or punish Tony and Margaret’s children when the marriage fell apart. I wonder what the Queen is feeling at the moment… all of her faves are getting divorced and she was so busy covering up her favorite son’s crimes, she didn’t notice. Oh well! Looks like 2020 will be another annus horribilis for Ol’ Liz.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
And Palmer got the scoop? Another divorce found out by tabloid reporters? I wonder if HM leaked this to keep the Andrew/Nygaard stuff off the papers?
Ps: another commenter called their split so well done. Googled it and apparently he got caught on tape having sex with a male aide. Guess I haven’t been paying attention to royal gossip as much as I would like to believe!
The sex scandal where Snowden was blackmailed for being videotaped with a male aide happened in 2007.
And the person on tape had be trying to blackmail him in 2007 and was a buckingham palace staff. He and his wife have been estranged for more than 2 years. It was simply a marriage of convenience
Armstrong-Jones wasn’t actually the one caught on tape. It was an aide of his on the tape that while drunk proceeded to talk about a sexual act he received from from his employer. 2 men involved with the tape then attempted to extort 50,000 pounds from Armstrong-Jones. Rather then pay the extortion demand he contacted the police and they set up a sting operation. The two men were tried and convicted.
Regardless, all this happened back in 2007/2008. The Snowdons presumably worked through that experience and carried on for more than another decade. It’s sad to see any 25 year marriage end and I hope things do proceed amiably.
Actually i think TQ was very close to Tony and maintained close friendship after divorce and up to his death.
@olala- that is what I though too; QEII was close to Tony but Tony was really not Phillips kind of dude. Also, The Queen Mother got on very well with Tony. The family took his side in the marital break-up,
She kept him on doing the official royal portraits for years.
What a pity that Meghan will probably never get a royal portrait done, especially as she is now in her prime.
If The Crown is accurate, then this is correct. It seemed like TQ and Queen Mum knew Margaret was a handful and didn’t blame Tony too much for all the drama. Again, according to a television show.
@PrincessK said:
“What a pity that Meghan will probably never get a royal portrait done, especially as she is now in her prime.”
Having a portrait done is not a big deal. If he wished, Harry could commission to have a portrait made of Meghan and Archie, and/or all three of them. There are paintings of Harry & William that I’ve seen in books and online that have probably not been widely viewed:
https://inoils.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/portrait-of-princes-william-and-harry-by-nicky-philipps.jpg
Here’s an informal painting by a random artist of M&H. It was probably painted using readily available photographs:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/20/70/40/207040f8f1adcd1baf64a96de9729298.jpg
Thanks for the links Songbird.
P.s. at least Margaret kids turned out to be talented and hard working.
Yes, his sister Sarah, is a well known artist. Married to the same guy, never hear much about her
She was interviewed for a documentary about the Queen, and she seemed really sweet and low key.
There were rumours about her marriage at one point.
From The Daily Fail: “Linley was picked by Prince Charles, his first cousin, as number two in his The Prince’s Foundation, a new merger of his charity commitments, in 2018 – an appointment which raised eyebrows as he was chosen ahead of the heir to the throne’s sons William and Harry.”
Mostly irrelevant, but I love the name Linley for a custom furniture store. (And his stuff is beautiful!) Excellent branding.
I remember seeing an article about his furniture…truly lustworthy furniture, the sort you take really good care of because it was built so beautifully and meant to last.
Linley designs and builds (yes he does build furniture himself) the type of furniture meant to be inherited generation after generation.
The wooden tiara he carved for Serena is lovely.
They probably got their talent and work-ethic from their father. The late Lord Snowdon actually was very talented , even if he was a total player, to put it lightly, He fathered a child before marrying Margaret, and his second marriage broke up because he fathered another child with a mistress. I seriously believe one of the primary reason the Sussexes left was for the sake of their marriage, as well as wanting to do real work, not performance royalling. Too many stresses too early in, and they don’t want to end up miserable or worse. The reality is marriages end by death or divorce and Britain has a very high divorce rate( @42% , which is actually higher than the current US rate of 37%- looked it up ). Anyway, it seems like the private lives of most of the Royals is respected, except for Harry and Meghan. Glad they did what they had to do for their family. The Snowdons seem to be in the last stretch of the separation/ divorce and it just finally made the news because of the Peter Philips divorce and the tabloids need to be fed, since the Sussexes are out of firing range.
Yes, the baby he fathered was from a an affair he had while he was courting Margaret. Just imagine. It was kept secret for years, they were so lucky that there was no social media around then.
Again, I just find it funny that these royals have all decided that they can’t suck it up and play for the cameras anymore and would rather get divorced and bring “shame” upon the royal name and institution.
To be fair, just like Peter Phillips, the 2nd Earl of Snowdon really doesn’t have a high media profile compared to many others in the extended Royal family. The announcement of two royal divorces in the space of a fortnight is probably not great timing. But hardly the stuff to bring shame on the royal name…. both men well down on the list of succession. By my wonky calculations 15th and 17th?
I’m just surprised Serena stayed this long…..especially after the 2007 scandal with the tape….she probably waited until the youngest left home.
I’m surprised at how the ruthless British press have maintained a stonewall silence over the truth.🤔🤔
I mean we have RRs saying with a straight fact that these two were “a love match”.😆😆
There’s apparently a legal injunction against reporters mentioning his name in connection with the tape because it was part of an extortion plot.
David and Serena were a love match as are David and Rose. However, with many aristocratic and high gentry marriages sometimes one partner plays for both teams. Every concept of love is different.
Serena is the daughter of Charles Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington. Serena & David are part of the “London Set” and “Polo Set” and “Continent Set”. They are not Turnip Toffs.
David and Rose a love match! 😆
To misquote Caroine Aherne “What first attracted you to the multimillionaire David, 24 years your senior?”
Perhas he thought that 49 he needed an heir, and made sure he would get one before he married her!
@GloryS – Well many marriages have built on much less and needing an heir is big part of any decision when you hold a hereditary peerage.
Disclaimer: I have always liked Rose & David Cholmondeley and find them very interesting.
I also find Serena & David Armstrong-Jones very interesting.
No one cares about them, they’re not senior royals.
@ BTB – there is a big difference between that and a love match!
My only takeaway is her skin looks pretty good. I wonder if that is from retinol use.
I was gonna say – she’s really beautiful.
“And another one gone and another one gone…another one bites the dust”.
And people cry about the Sussexes. The press will turn over every rock to get the dirt on this marriage break up. Karma is coming to the House of Windsor.
Well, hardly. I don’t think that the Snowdon’s were regulars on the Buckingham Palace balcony. They were never front line royals.
Might be a case of: let’s get all bad news out at once. It dilutes press attention. And 2021 will be a new year (if they manage to keep Andy away from cameras and church walks).
Viscount Linley’s work is beautiful.
Hopefully both parties will find happiness going forward living an authentic life.
The first Earl of Snowden was a very good photographer and he maintained a good relationship with the Royal family after the divorce. He even took Charles and Diana’s engagement photos.
IIRC from what I have read over the years, The first Earl of Snowdon was very well like by just about everyone except Margaret.
Tony Snowdon was very a leader, mover and shaker of the Swinging Sixties “Swinging London” set.
ETA: I think Snowdon also took the engagement photos of The Process Royal and Captain Mark Phillips.
How bizarre! When I was in the shower last night, I suddenly thought of him (for the first time since his dad died) and wondered whether he’d get married again. I hadn’t heard about the tape, but I’m not surprised to find out.
The Daily Wail sycophants are sobbing over the ‘Poor Queen’ and her ‘annus horribilis’ (Yes. I Go To The Comments So You Don’t Have To. GoFundMe contributions for psychotherapy appreciated). The woman could set light to a third world country and they’d still find a way to a) blame Meghan b) form a Greek chorus for that ‘poor, saintly’ (cold, paedo-sheltering, monomaniacal) creature
LOL
Yes Andrews, there is no hope for that group. Have to admit I sometimes venture over there, to comments section only, when I want a good laugh. They don’t disappoint! Lol
I go over to the Daily Wail-n-Fail and The DataLounge to read comments about once a week because it makes me really appreciate being part of the Celebitchy commentariat.
Well I had a laugh over on this comment I read: ” Forget annus horribilis, this year will be annus excrementum”.
OMG! :rofl: 😆
Laughter is the best medicine!
LOOK OUT THEY ALL GETTIN DIVORCED!
Watch this space for Bill and Kathy. You heard it here first!
Tee hee! 😆
Meg said, “I can’t with the stiff upper lip shtick. Trying to do that can be very damaging. Heck, as I told H, it’s not enough to just survive, we gotta thrive, we gotta be happy.”
Autumn and Serena were listening up, I’ll bet. They know that Meg, DoS, is very big on women’s empowerment! And of course we are living in the era of ‘Time’s Up,’ and ‘#MeToo!’
I think it’s karma, and Diana is smiling in Heaven at the floodgates opening on the Windsors. She’s proud of Meghan & Harry, sending blessings to her grandchildren, and probably praying for William’s soul, despite it most likely being to no avail in his case.
At this rate I reckon we’ll have around 20 divorces this year.
Those Windsor genes are strong, aren’t they?
Not sure why these people are a thing. Sorry they are minor royals who aren’t on the royal payroll and I doubt very many on here would know who these people were at all. If it wasn’t for the Crown how many on here would know who Prince Margaret was. Also making a big deal about divorce now. You do realize Charles, Andrew, Anne, not to mention Margaret many moons ago have all divorced. The Queen probably doesn’t like it. I don’t really like divorces either. They are sad, but by now I’m sure she knows it happens and sometimes is the best thing. This isn’t a shame on the royals. They have many other things but this is silly.
“If it wasn’t for the Crown how many on here would know who Prince Margaret was.”
FTR, I think you’ll find almost everyone on here knows who Margaret was. Ditto the rest of the CW countries, which are approximately 1/3 of the world’s population.
I absolutely knew who Princess Margaret was because I was alive when she still made appearances with the Queen / Queen Mum. She was the daughter of a King and a Queen and the sister of a Queen. Not a nobody.
Princess Margaret was the Prince Harry of her day.
Yes, and everyone has been waiting for this divorce for years. It was expected to have come before Peter’s actually. It looks as the couple had decided to wait until the children were grown up. Once kids leave the house and go to university, there is often no point in such couples remaining together.
Thanks for catching us all up. Pretty sure we all knew Margaret Rose before The Crown aaaand we do know everyone you mentioned are all divorced. keep up the good work though.
Given the odd lifestyle that royalty live, and being under public scrutiny, is it any wonder many of the marriages are ending in divorce?
Nah. The Windsors aren’t doing any worse statistically-speaking with their divorce rates than the rest of us peasants. It’s just harder for them to hide it.
Ha, who are you calling peasants!! 😆
I wonder if Peter and David frequented any of Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell’s parties? The FBI might be wanting to interview more people than just Andrew himself? That could shake up a marriage.
SO HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS MEGHAN’S FAULT?
They’ll try. You know it.
Honestly that is ridiculous!
I bet it’s something like, Meghan was divorced first with her modern American uncoupling ways which totally gave them all the idea because they’d never heard of divorce before she poisoned the well.
Hahahahaha
According to “The Crown” (dodgy source I know) the queen and the rest of the royals really liked Anthony. Almost more than Margaret in fact. But who knows