David, Earl of Snowdon, suddenly announced his divorce after 25 years of marriage
Okay, I’ll do the backstory before we get to the real story. HRH Princess Margaret was Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister. By many accounts, Margaret was the pretty one and the clever one, and maybe even their father’s favorite. Margaret had a difficult life as a princess though, going from unsuitable man to unsuitable man. Finally she settled on Antony Armstrong-Jones, a rather bohemian artist/photographer. Antony (people called him Tony) became the Earl of Snowdon when they married, and their children were given smaller titles too (Viscount and Lady). Tony and Margaret had a difficult marriage because they were both difficult, prickly people. They managed to have two children, David Armstrong-Jones and Lady Sarah. Tony and Margaret divorced in 1978 after 18 years of marriage.
Margaret passed away in 2002, and the first Earl Snowdon passed away in 2017. All this time, I did NOT know that “Earl of Snowdon” was a hereditary title? Meaning, it’s not some one-time title that one dude gets for marrying the Queen’s sister, and he can’t pass it down to his son. But after Tony’s death, David became the new Earl of Snowdon (the second one) and his wife, Serena, became the Countess of Snowdon. Only sh-t is about to get a lot more complicated, because guess what? While the royal reporters were crawling up the Duchess of Sussex’s bum for two years, all of these royal (and royal-adjacent) marriages were falling apart right and left. Not even two weeks after we heard about Peter Phillips’ impending divorce, it looks like the Queen’s nephew is splitting from his wife too:
Princess Margaret’s son the Earl of Snowdon and his wife have announced they are to divorce – the second royal split in a week. The Queen’s nephew and his wife, Serena, the Countess of Snowdon are to separate after more than 25 years of marriage. The Earl -David Armstrong-Jones – is best known for his high-end furniture company Linley, that make bespoke furniture and accessories.
A spokesman for the couple said: ‘The Earl and Countess of Snowdon have amicably agreed that their marriage has come to an end and that they shall be divorced. They ask that the press respect their privacy and that of their family.’
The couple wed in October 1993 and have two children Viscount Linley, Charles Armstrong-Jones and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones. The Earl’s mother Margaret, the Queen’s sister, died in 2002 and he became the 2nd Earl of Snowdon following the death of his father the Earl of Snowdon, celebrity photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, in 2017.
I seem to remember some gossip about how the Queen was pretty close to her niece and nephew, and while the Queen didn’t really care for Tony that much, she didn’t take away his title or punish Tony and Margaret’s children when the marriage fell apart. I wonder what the Queen is feeling at the moment… all of her faves are getting divorced and she was so busy covering up her favorite son’s crimes, she didn’t notice. Oh well! Looks like 2020 will be another annus horribilis for Ol’ Liz.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
