The original ‘Royal Rebel’ – Tony Snowdon, whose marriage to Princess Margaret captivated Swinging London but ended in the acrimonious first royal divorce for more than 400 years

On this day six years ago, Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s former husband, died at the age of 86.

Antony Armstrong-Jones photographed some of the most famous faces of the 20th century, from Princess Diana to Elizabeth Taylor, in a career that spanned more than sixty years.

But he was best known as the man who married the Queen’s younger sister in 1960, a union that ended in a bitter divorce eighteen years later.

Famous for their charm, the intertwined affairs of Snowdon’s heart would eventually become the subject of widespread speculation.

Princess Margaret and her fiancé, photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, pictured at Royal Lodge, Windsor, after announcing their engagement in 1960

Handsome, witty and talented, he had a slightly bohemian appearance that suited the atmosphere of post-war excitement and especially the ‘Swinging Sixties’.

Whether it was attending first nights at the ballet or hanging out with famous faces in the wee hours of the morning, there were few more glamorous couples than Princess Margaret and Tony.

And Tony had a head start.

Such was his apparent disregard for convention that there was a time when he was called the ‘first royal rebel’.

No doubt he was also the victim of a certain amount of condescension.

Snowdon was the first proper citizen in 450 years to marry a king’s daughter, a famous motorcycle-riding photographer whose parents – remember, this was a very different era – were divorced.

Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, born on March 7, 1930 in London, was the son of Welsh lawyer Ronald and Anne Messel.

When he was a child, his parents divorced and Tony went to live with his mother, who married Lawrence Parsons, sixth Earl of Rosse.

His childhood was “loveless and emotionally starved,” according to his obituary in The Guardian – early years when Tony was “treated as clearly inferior” to his mother’s two sons with the Earl.

When he was 16, Tony contracted polio. He survived the disease, but it took its toll and left him with a limp for the rest of his life.

Tony went to Eton College and won a place at Cambridge, but he left after his second year and decided to devote himself to photography instead.

He quickly made a name for himself as a portrait photographer and by 1957 had organized a one-man exhibition of his work and published two photography books.

Margaret and Antony pictured in the grounds of Royal Lodge on the day they announced their engagement

Newlywed Princess Margaret leaves London’s Westminster Abbey hand in hand with her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones on their wedding day in May 1960

Tony and Margaret with their two children at Kensington Palace, shortly after the birth of her daughter in 1964

He was first introduced to the royal family when he was commissioned to make portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and their children at Buckingham Palace.

The following year, Tony met Princess Margaret at a dinner party hosted by the Princess’s maid of honor, Lady Elizabeth Cavendish. He was then assigned to photograph Margaret.

It took several months for the romance to blossom, and when it did, few knew about the relationship.

Tony reportedly proposed to Princess Margaret in February 1960, on the day she learned her former fiancé, Captain Peter Townsend, was getting remarried.

The engagement was announced on February 26, 1960.

The wedding on May 6 was an impressive event in Westminster Abbey and was the first royal wedding to be televised.

The couple then sailed around the Caribbean islands on their honeymoon.

The following year it was revealed that Princess Margaret was expecting a baby – the future Viscount Linley – and shortly afterwards the Queen brought Armstrong-Jones fully into the royal fold by bestowing an aristocratic title on him.

Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon pictured attending the Royal Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, May 1974

Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley and Lord Snowdon at the Royal College of Art in November 1991

Lord Snowdon pictured at a memorial service for fellow photographer Terence Donovan at St George’s, Hanover Square, 1997

His title, Earl of Snowdon, was chosen because of his family ties to Carnarvonshire, where his father was a deputy lieutenant.

Their second child, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, was born on May 1, 1964.

Cracks began to appear in the relationship.

Although Antony is said to have been the first to be unfaithful while away at The Sunday Times, Princess Margaret had her own affairs, the first of which was in 1966 with Antony Barton, Lady Sarah’s godfather.

By March 1976, the rift had become too wide to be repaired, although many observers seemed to believe that separation was unthinkable.

In 1978, they officially announced their divorce, making Margaret the first royal to divorce since King Henry VIII.

After his divorce, Snowdon married Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, the former wife of film director Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

They remained together for more than twenty years, but infidelity and the 1998 birth of Tony’s youngest child, Jasper, with Melanie Cable-Alexander, ended the marriage in 2000.

Despite the misfortune of their marriage, Antony and Margaret remained friends throughout their lives, and he continued to spend time with the royals and take a number of official royal photographs.

Lord Snowdon was buried in 2017 at the remote St Baglan’s Church, Llanfaglan, near Caernarfon, overlooking the Menai Strait in North Wales

Prince William pictured leaving a thanksgiving service for Lord Snowdon

Queen Elizabeth II is pictured speaking with Serena Armstrong-Jones (former wife of David Snowdon), David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon and their daughter Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones after a thanksgiving service in April 2017

The photographer died peacefully at his home on January 13, 2017.

He was buried at St Baglan’s Church in the remote village of Llanfaglan, near Caernarfon, in an intimate funeral attended by only a handful of close family and friends.

Lord Snowdon’s coffin was brought to the remote church in a dark green Land Rover – which was decorated with a wreath of white roses – rather than a traditional hearse.

After a 30-minute memorial service, he was buried in Snowdon in the family cemetery plot, overlooking the Menai Strait.

With only a small group of family and friends, the monument couldn’t be further removed from Lord Snowdon’s wedding to Princess Margaret, when the golden couple were at the center of London society in the Swinging Sixties.