Margaret died in February 2002 aged 71, after suffering her fourth stroke. She 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 19. Her health deteriorated in the last twenty years of her life. Her divorce received much negative publicity, and her private life was for many years the subject of speculation by media and royal watchers. Margaret was a controversial member of the British royal family. The couple had two children, David and Sarah, and divorced in 1978. Margaret abandoned her plans with Townsend and married Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 the Queen created him Earl of Snowdon. Many in the government believed that he would be an unsuitable husband for the Queen's 22-year-old sister, and the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to countenance her marriage to a divorced man. He proposed to Margaret early in the following year. In 1952, her father died, her sister became queen, and Townsend divorced his wife. Most famously, she fell in love in the early 1950s with Peter Townsend, a married RAF officer in the royal household. During the war years, Margaret was too young to perform official duties and continued her education, being nine years old when the war broke out and turning fifteen just after hostilities ended.įrom the 1950s onwards, Margaret became one of the world's most celebrated socialites, famed for her glamorous lifestyle and reputed romances. During the Second World War, the two sisters stayed at Windsor Castle despite suggestions to evacuate them to Canada. Her position in the line of succession diminished over the following decades as Elizabeth's children and grandchildren were born. Margaret's sister became heir presumptive, with Margaret second in line to the throne. Her life changed at the age of six, when her father ascended the British throne following the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. Margaret was born when her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, and she spent much of her childhood with them and her elder sister. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, CI, GCVO, GCStJ, CD (Margaret Rose 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon.

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