Princess Margaret

Princess Margaret (1930-2002), princess of Great Britain, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. She was born Margaret Rose on August 21, 1930, at Glamis Castle, Scotland, and was privately educated. After the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952, she assumed various ceremonial duties, including official tours of Commonwealth territories. In 1955, facing strong objections from the royal family and under intense media scrutiny, Margaret chose not to marry the divorced Royal Air Force captain Peter Townsend, a former member of her father's staff. In 1960 Princess Margaret married British photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones, a commoner who in 1961 was given the title Earl of Snowdon. They had two children, David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones (Viscount Linley) and Sarah Francis Elizabeth Armstrong-Jones (Lady Sarah Chatto). The couple divorced in 1978 after two years' legal separation.