109 Facts About Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's sister became heir presumptive, with Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon second in line to the throne.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon proposed to Margaret early in the following year.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was a controversial member of the British royal family.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's divorce received much negative publicity, and her private life was for many years the subject of speculation by media and royal watchers.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's health deteriorated in the last twenty years of her life.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was a heavy smoker for most of her adult life and had a lung operation in 1985, a bout of pneumonia in 1993 as well as three strokes between 1998 and 2001.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon died in February 2002 aged 71, after suffering her fourth stroke.

Princess Margaret was born at 9:22 pm on 21 August 1930 at Glamis Castle in Scotland, her mother's ancestral home, and was affectionately known as Margot within the royal family.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was the first member of the royal family in direct line of succession to be born in Scotland since the 1600s.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was delivered by Sir Henry Simson, the royal obstetrician.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was baptised in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 30 October 1930 by Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

At the time of her birth, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was fourth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's father was the Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's mother was the Duchess of York, the youngest daughter of the 14th Earl and the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

The Yorks were perceived by the public as an ideal family: father, mother and children, but unfounded rumours that Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was deaf and mute were not completely dispelled until her first main public appearance at her uncle Prince George's wedding in 1934.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was educated alongside her sister, Elizabeth, by their Scottish governess, Marion Crawford.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's education was mainly supervised by her mother, who in the words of Randolph Churchill "never aimed at bringing her daughters up to be more than nicely behaved young ladies".

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was resentful about her limited education, especially in later years, and aimed criticism at her mother.

The family moved into Buckingham Palace; Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's room overlooked The Mall.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was a Brownie in the 1st Buckingham Palace Brownie Pack, formed in 1937.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was a Girl Guide and later a Sea Ranger.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon served as President of Girlguiding UK from 1965 until her death on 9 February 2002.

In 1940, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon sat next to Elizabeth during their radio broadcast for the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from cities.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon spoke at the end by wishing all the children goodnight.

Unlike other members of the royal family, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was not expected to undertake any public or official duties during the war.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon developed her skills at singing and playing the piano, often show tunes from stage musicals.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's contemporaries thought she was spoiled by her parents, especially her father, who allowed her to take liberties not usually permissible, such as being allowed to stay up to dinner at the age of thirteen.

Princess Margaret does draw all the attention and Princess Elizabeth lets her do that.

On 15 April 1946, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was confirmed into the Church of England.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's chaperone was Peter Townsend, the King's equerry and very firm toward Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon, whom he apparently considered an indulged child.

Later that year, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was a bridesmaid at Elizabeth's wedding.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was accepted by the royal social circle.

In July 1949, at a fancy dress ball at the American Ambassador's residence, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon performed the can-can on stage, accompanied by Douglas and ten other costumed girls.

In 1952, although Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon attended parties and debutante balls with friends such as Douglas and Mark Bonham Carter, the set were seen infrequently together.

In May 1953, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon met singer Eddie Fisher when he performed at the Red, White and Blue Ball.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon asked him to her table and he was "invited to all sorts of parties".

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon fell out with him in 1957, but years later, Fisher still claimed the night he was introduced to her was the greatest thrill of his lifetime.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's father died five months later, on 6 February 1952, and her sister became Queen.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was grief-stricken by her father's death and was prescribed sedatives to help her sleep.

The first reports that Townsend and Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon wished to marry began in August 1952, but these remained uncommon.

Private Secretary to the Queen Sir Alan Lascelles wrote that Townsend came to tell him he had asked Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon to marry him shortly before Christmas 1952.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was 15 years her senior and had two children from his previous marriage.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon accepted and informed her sister, the Queen, whose consent was required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon told her sister, "Under the circumstances, it isn't unreasonable for me to ask you to wait a year", and to keep the relationship secret until after the coronation.

The Queen was advised by Lascelles to post Townsend abroad, but she refused and instead transferred him from the Queen Mother's household to her own, although Townsend did not accompany Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon as planned on a tour of Southern Rhodesia.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's cabinet refused to approve the marriage, and Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, did not approve of Margaret marrying a divorced man; opponents said that the marriage would threaten the monarchy as Edward VIII's had.

Churchill informed the Queen that both his cabinet and Dominion prime ministers were against the marriage, and that Parliament would not approve a marriage that would be unrecognized by the Church of England unless Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon renounced her rights to the throne.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon did not object to being removed from the line of succession to the throne as the Queen and all her children dying was unlikely, but receiving parliamentary approval for the marriage would be difficult and uncertain.

The Queen told the couple to wait until 1955, when Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon would be 25, avoiding the Queen having to publicly disapprove of her sister's marriage.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon avoided parties and being seen with women.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon joined a Belgian show jumping club and rode in races around Europe.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was told by the Church that she would be unable to receive communion if she married a divorced man.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon worked with friends on charity productions of Lord and Lady Algy and The Frog, and publicly dated men such as Tennant and Wallace.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon reportedly believed that his exile from Margaret would soon end, their love was strong, and that the British people would support marrying.

The royal family devised a system in which it did not host Townsend, but he and Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon formally courted each other at dinner parties hosted by friends such as Mark Bonham Carter.

Women in the East End of London shouted "Go on, Marg, do what you want" at the princess.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's authorized biographer Christopher Warwick said that the letter was evidence that her love for Townsend was not as strong as the public believed, and that she wanted only the prime minister and Elizabeth to know of her uncertainty.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon would have been able to marry Townsend by removing her and any children from the marriage from the line of succession, and thus the Queen's permission would no longer be necessary.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon would be allowed to keep her royal title and her allowance, stay in the country, and even continue with her public duties.

On 28 October 1955 final draft of the plan, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon would announce that she would marry Townsend and leave the line of succession.

The decision not to marry was made on the 24th and for the following week, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon worked on the wording of her statement, which was released on the 31st.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon refused when Oliver Dawnay, the Queen Mother's private secretary, asked to remove the word "devotion".

The written statement, signed "Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon", was the first official confirmation of the relationship.

Barrymaine agreed that Margaret intended the statement to mean that she would never marry, but wrote that Townsend likely did not accept any such vow to him by the princess, and his subsequent departure from Britain for two years was to not interfere with her life.

Townsend said during a 1970 book tour that he and Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon did not correspond and they had not seen each other since a "friendly" 1958 meeting, "just like I think a lot of people never see their old girl friends".

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon claimed he complied with her wishes, but kept this letter and an envelope of burned shards of the vow she had sent, eventually destroying these.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was apparently unaware Margaret had already broken the pact by her engagement to Billy Wallace as it wasn't revealed until many years later.

In October 1993, a friend of Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon revealed she had met Townsend for what turned out to be the last time before his death in 1995.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon hadn't wanted to attend the reunion they'd both been invited to, in 1992, for fear it might be picked up by the press, so she asked to see him privately instead.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon said that he looked "exactly the same, except he had grey hair".

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon accepted one of Wallace's many proposals to marry in 1956, but the engagement ended before an official announcement when he admitted to a romance in the Bahamas; "I had my chance and blew it with my big mouth", Wallace said.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon did not reveal this publicly until an interview and subsequent biography with Nigel Dempster in 1977.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon met the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones at a supper party in 1958.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon reportedly accepted his proposal a day after learning from Townsend that he intended to marry a young Belgian woman, Marie-Luce Jamagne, who was half his age and greatly resembled Margaret.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon married Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 1960.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon had eight young bridesmaids, led by her niece, Princess Anne.

Reportedly, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon had her first extramarital affair in 1966, with her daughter's godfather Anthony Barton, a Bordeaux wine producer.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon claimed that her relationship with Douglas-Home was platonic, but her letters to him were intimate.

In 1975, the Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was listed among women with whom actor Warren Beatty had had romantic relationships.

Once, when Llewellyn left on an impulsive trip to Turkey, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon became emotionally distraught and took an overdose of sleeping tablets.

On 15 December 1978, Snowdon married Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, but he and Margaret remained close friends.

Subsequently, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon went on multiple tours of various places; in her first major tour she joined her parents and sister for a tour of South Africa in 1947.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon told them that the royal family had been moved by the many letters of condolence from Ireland.

The rest of the tour drew demonstrations, and Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's security was doubled in the face of physical threats.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was president of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and of the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Invalid Children's Aid Nationwide.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was Grand President of the St John Ambulance Brigade and Colonel-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was the president or patron of numerous organisations, such as the West Indies Olympic Association, the Girl Guides, Northern Ballet Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Tenovus Cancer Care, the Royal College of Nursing, and the London Lighthouse.

At some points Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was criticized for not being as active as other members of the royal family.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon began smoking cigarettes in her late teens and had continued to smoke heavily for many years thereafter.

In January 1993, Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was admitted to hospital for pneumonia.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon experienced a mild stroke on 23 February 1998 at her holiday home in Mustique.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was hospitalized on 10 January 2001, due to loss of appetite and swallowing problems after a further stroke.

Princess Margaret died in the King Edward VII's Hospital, London, at 06:30 GMT on 9 February 2002, aged 71, three days after the 50th anniversary of her father's death.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's funeral was held on 15 February 2002, the 50th anniversary of her father's funeral.

Unlike most other members of the royal family, Princess Margaret was cremated, at Slough Crematorium.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's ashes were temporarily placed in the Royal Vault of St George's Chapel, before being moved to the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George's, following the funeral of her mother in April 2002.

Critics claimed that she even looked down on her grandmother Queen Mary because Mary was born a princess with the lower "Serene Highness" style, whereas Margaret was a "Royal Highness" by birth.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon recalled a conversation with Margaret in which, discussing her public notoriety, she said: "It was inevitable, when there are two sisters and one is the Queen, who must be the source of honour and all that is good, while the other must be the focus of the most creative malice, the evil sister".

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon became interested in ballet from a very young age and enjoyed participating in amateur plays.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon directed one such play, titled The Frogs, with her aristocratic friends as cast members.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon was described by her cousin Lady Elizabeth Shakerley as "somebody who had a wonderful capacity for giving a lot of people pleasure and she was making a very, very, very good and loyal friend".

Biographer Warwick suggests that Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's most enduring legacy is an accidental one.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's fashion earned the nickname 'The Margaret Look'.

Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon developed a close relationship with atelier Christian Dior, wearing his designs throughout her life and becoming one of his most prominent customers.

British Vogue wrote that Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's style 'hit her stride' in the mid-60s, where she was photographed alongside celebrities like The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren.

Princess Margaret was known for her "magnificent" hats and headdresses, including a canary feather hat worn on a 1962 Jamaica visit and a peacock feather pillbox hat to the 1973 Royal Ascot.

Christopher Bailey's Spring 2006 collection for Burberry was inspired by Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's look from the 1960s.

In June 2006, much of Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon's estate was auctioned by Christie's to meet the tax and, in her son's words, "normal family requirements such as educating her grandchildren", though some of the items were sold in aid of charities such as the Stroke Association.

The character "Pantomime Princess Margaret" appeared in four separate sketches, in three different episodes, of the BBC's 1970s surreal comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus.