IN THE first season of hit Netflix show The Crown, Vanessa Kirby’s Princess Margaret is seen falling for Ben Miles’ Captain Peter Townsend – only for Claire Foy’s Queen to make her choose between romance and family.
But in real life the monarch’s younger sister, who died in 2002 aged 71, was never actually forced to decide whether to give up her royal privileges in favour of marrying her divorced lover, according to a new documentary.
The Queen’s sister Princess Margaret was never forced to give up royal privileges for love, according to unearthed letters
A new four-part ITV series ‘Inside The Crown: Secrets Of The Royals’ sees biographer Robert Hardman reveal how unearthed letters, stored for more than half a century in the National Archives at Kew, give a different insight into the saga.
An exchange between Her Majesty’s sibling and then-Prime Minister Anthony Eden in 1955 showed that the government was happy for her to continue being royal if she did wed Townsend – who she met aged 17 when the former Battle of Briton pilot was an equerry to her father, King George VI.
“In the popular imagination, Margaret is a poor waif hard done by,” the royal expert told the Daily Mail.
“But Margaret’s royal existence and money would’ve been OK, she didn’t have to give them up.”
Her single sacrifice would have been to give up her right to the throne – a decision that would also affect any future children she had – and at the time she was third in the line of succession.
“It may not seem a big thing today, but back then when you were the king’s daughter it was a big deal,” Hardman added.
“At the same time, we see the Establishment was not being as mean as we thought.
“There’s this idea that the heartless machine had driven a wedge between the couple, but it’s a lot more nuanced than that.”
The former Battle of Britain pilot had divorced his first wife on the grounds of her adultery – and for this reason the Church of England was unhappy with Margaret’s wish to marry him
The monarch’s younger sister went on to marry Lord Snowdon and keep her place in the line of succession
A central plotline in the first season of The Crown, released in 2016, suggested that the Prime Minister threatened the princess with exile for five years if she went ahead and married Townsend – with Her Majesty, under pressure from the government and Church of England who opposed divorce, to refuse permission.
In reality, the royal could have married her lover – who had divorced his first wife on the grounds her adultery – while keeping her royal title, duties, home in the UK, civil list allowance of 6,000 a year plus another 9,000 on marriage.
Margaret would have been able to keep her title and income
The latest series of the hit Netflix show sees Helena Bonham Carter take on the role
In the latest – and third – series of The Crown, the role of Margaret is taken on by Helena Bonham Carter.
It depicts her tumultuous relationship with Lord Snowdon, who in real life she was married to from 1960 to 1978 and with whom she had two children, Lady Sarah Chatto and David Armstrong-Jones.
In other royal news, we told you how Meghan Markle can’t seem to stick to anything for more than two years.
We also revealed that the Queen keeps her Christmas tree up until February as a tribute to her beloved dad.
And Mike Tindall teaches daughter Mia to surf as they join Zara and Lena for family day at beach during Australia holiday.
