How times have changed for forbidden royal loves
While the nation holds its breath for Prince Harry to propose to his girlfriend it’s easy to forget that such a union would have been unthinkable 60 years ago
ESS than two decades later those same strict rules were to shatter another royal love affair. In 1953, at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, cameras captured the Queen’s younger sister Margaret plucking a piece of fluff from the lapel of Group Captain Peter Townsend, her late father’s equerry. Townsend was a handsome Second World War hero and speculation mounted that he and the young Princess were enjoying an affair.
Their relationship was not altogether frowned upon. Townsend was a popular member of the Royal Household, as a 1953 Time magazine article described: “Group Captain Townsend rode with the Princesses, escorted Margaret to parties, flew her planes in air races, played canasta with the Queen and by royal command enlivened many a gathering at Sandringham or Balmoral with his quick wit and boyish charm.” He and Margaret all she would have lost.” Now the Royal Family is a far more compassionate institution. In 2005, 50 years after the Queen was forced to make her younger sister choose between love and duty, she granted permission for her eldest son Prince Charles to marry fellow divorcee Camilla Parker Bowles.
ALTHOUGH the couple were not afforded the pomp and ceremony of a full-blown royal wedding and the Queen did not attend their civil ceremony, she did hold a reception for them at Windsor Castle… and Charles’ royal status was never in jeopardy.
The man who will succeed Charles as king has also married outside the strict traditions of royalty by choosing “commoner” Kate Middleton, rather than a fellow blue-blood. And, perhaps following the example of William and Harry’s own mother Princess Diana, the Queen used common sense and compassion rather than rigid protocol when granting permission to marry.
According to royal biographer Sally Bedel Smith: “The Queen just looked at who Kate was and that she was in love with her grandson and that she knew how to conduct herself with dignity and discretion, and that was the most important thing.”
The Church of England has also softened its stance on divorce, stating: “We recognise that some marriages do fail for all sorts of sad and painful reasons. The Church of England agreed in 2002 that divorced people could remarry in church under certain circumstances. However, because the Church views marriage to be lifelong, there is no automatic right to do so and it is left to the discretion of the priest.”
If Harry was to propose to Meghan he would still need to seek permission from the monarch to marry. But thankfully the idea of him being forced to choose between the divorced actress and his position as fifth in line to the throne now seems inconceivable.
“The stakes are obviously lower in the case of Harry,” says Sally Bedel Smith. “The Queen is remarkably open-minded and she’s very tolerant. I would imagine that the Queen’s view of this would be, if they’re in love and well suited then they should proceed.”