Princess Margaret’s Future Was Shaped By A Piece Of Lint?

It seems the royal family has always had their share of scandal, perhaps because they are under a spotlight like no other. What would perhaps raise an eyebrow in a normal family, has the potential to become an international incident with the royals?

It was under this prism that Princess Margaret picking a piece of fluff off of a royal courtier caused a major commotion that had to be dealt with swiftly and firmly.

What Threatened The Queen Days Before Her Coronation?

Queen Elizabeth’s reign was under threat when it was noticed that Princess Margaret picked a piece of lint off of a royal courtier. Believe it or not, the tame incident represented Her Majesty’s first major crisis since taking the throne.

The royal rumor mill churned in earnest after Princess Margaret’s gesture. Royal author Ingrid Seward described the moment to Channel 5’s documentary The Royal Family at War, “It was at the coronation, famously, Princess Margaret removed a piece of fluff from Peter Townsend’s uniform.”

British papers went into overdrive and questioned the intimacy of the touch between the young princess and her late father’s former equerry.

Was The Gesture Overblown?

The rumored relationship was considered wrong for two reasons. One, the 16-year age gap, and two, Townsend was a divorced father-of-two.

The Queen was in a difficult position as she would have to give her sister permission to marry if it came to that.

And, Prime Minister Winston Churchill Indicated Parliament Would Oppose The Marriage.

In the end, Peter Townsend was removed from Court and sent to Brussels to work as an air attaché to the British Embassy in Belgium.

Margaret And Townsend Were Disrupted By Royal Protocol

Two years later Margaret and Townsend reunited but another bogeyman emerged to sink their dream. The new Prime Minister Anthony Eden (a divorcé himself) told the princess she would be stripped of her royal privileges and income if she married Townsend.

As a result, she addressed the nation to say she had decided to put duty before love and she would not marry Captain Townsend. She said, “I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But, mindful of the Church’s teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have decided to put these considerations before any others.”

She married photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 but the marriage did not last.