Margaret’s millions: Watched by 20m, the first livetv wedding
MAY 6, 1960
She was the royal who had been the centre of attention all her life, but even Princess Margaret must have felt a little self-conscious on her wedding day.
When she married Antony Armstrong-jones on May 6, 1960, it was the first royal wedding to be televised, and more than 20 million people watched it live.
Not many women could have coped so well, but Margaret had got so much attention in her life at that point. Even Marion Crawford, governess to her sister, the Queen, and Margaret, had grown exasperated by the way everyone’s eyes always fell on the younger sibling.
“Princess Margaret does draw all the attention, and Princess Elizabeth lets her do that,” she once said.
Elizabeth insisted that was just the way she liked it, although it must have been strange to hear her father say that she was his pride, but Margaret was his joy.
Their father had died in 1952, so he never got to see the wedding. He also never got to see her break her romance with Peter Townsend, which Margaret had announced in 1955.
Three years later, at a 1958 supper party, she first met photographer Armstrong-jones, with the couple getting engaged the following year.
The handsome and trendy Antony had proposed with a ruby ring surrounded by diamonds shaped like a rosebud, and when they announced their engagement in 1960, it took everyone by surprise.
Their big day took place at Westminster Abbey, with 2,000 guests, and Margaret looked stunning.
Margaret had always loved her hectic social life and many famous friends.
Now, however, with her new husband’s links, she added bohemians, arty types, city slickers and all sorts of showbiz folk to her circle. But she would always be the one everyone else was staring at.
All those millions stared at her dress, designed by royal favourite Normal Hartnell.
Some magazines called it the simplest royal wedding dress in history but, on her, it looked just right.
Made of silk organza, the skirt had 30 metres of fabric, and Hartnell had insisted embellishments and beading were kept to a minimum to suit her diminutive frame.
You can see it today at the display of royal wedding dresses in Kensington Palace.
There were eight bridesmaids, led by Princess Anne.
Six weeks cruising the Caribbean on royal yacht Britannia was a splendid way to begin the marriage, and Margaret’s husband would be made Earl of Snowdon in 1961.
Sadly, they would get divorced in 1978.