S.i says that true love is able to overcome any obstacle. But not the real ones. The Crown 5 he makes it clear with one of the many unions broken by labels, by reason of state, even by hypocrisy. A passion already analyzed in the first fires in the first season of the series: the one between Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend (respectively Lesley Manville and Timothy Dalton), which now emerges from the past with the force of an accusation. To Elisabetta, a barrier to her sister’s dream of love.
Margaret and Peter Townsend: this marriage is not to be done
It’s the 1950s, and Princess Margaret (just 14) falls in love of the auditor (dignitary) of the queen mother: Peter Townsend (15 years older). A charming man, but married and with children. Their relationship breaks out immediately after the death of George VI, and has all the prerequisites to turn into a lasting union. The chronicles of the time immortalize them together with worldly events along with the rest of the royal family. Including the annual appointment ad Ascot. The relationship escalates to the point where Peter divorces and he asks Margaret to marry him, it’s 1953.
So far a fairy tale, with a tragic ending. In fact, according to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, the marriage approvals passed by the queen. Aggravating: in 1936 the Anglican Church had forbidden divorcees from the possibility of contracting a new marriage.
“The Crown 5”, Margaret and Peter Townsend in episode 4. (Netflix)
Margaret’s farewell to Peter
Elizabeth, leaving for a trip to the Commonwealth, asks her sister to wait a year. Meanwhile the Cabinet rejected the request, and for Margaret the only way forward would be the renunciation of the royal office. Which, however, can be done from the age of 25 and up, and she is 23. To definitively separate these modern Romeo and Juliet, the crown decides to move Townsend to Brussels. The colonel settles in the Belgian capital, where he begins a new life with his wife Marie-Luce Jamagne. Shortly before, Margaret had officially announced the end of the relationship.
“I have decided not to marry Captain Peter Townsend. (…) Mindful of the Church’s teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble and aware of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have decided to put these considerations before others ”. A renunciation in the name of reason of state. In the course of her life they have been attributed to her other relationships or presumed suchlike those with Dominic Elliott, Colin Tennant, John Turner and Billy Wallace.
Margaret in 1955, a few days before announcing the breakup of her engagement with Peter Townsend. (Getty Images)
Margaret and Peter Townsend second The Crown 5
In 1960 Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon. Two children: David and Lady Sarah Francis Elizabeth. Townsend died in 1995 (in France); the princess in 2002, due to a stroke due to a life of extravagance, including smoking; which forces her to removal of part of the left lung.
Speaking of this union, over time many have wondered if it had been a bitterly broken fatal union. With lovers who chased each other with thoughts from afar. The Crown 5 reconstructs some quick moments of their relationship, but focuses on meeting 35 years after leaving. Three decades in which Margaret has not stopped loving the man who was unjustly taken from her. The fourth episode is a snapshot of her state of mind.
Lovers 35 years later
The opportunity for a rapprochement takes place on the occasion of a radio interview released by Margaret in 1981. His statements are the pass for the return of Townsend. “I believe there are many first loves. When one reaches a certain age, one cannot help but venture into an examination of one’s heart. A review in which everyone considers themselves the loves, the dreams, the passions of youth had during their entire life. And it is interesting to see which ones persist. Some remain and become lasting loves. Others vanish and one realizes that perhaps true loves have never been ».
A strong and clear message that Townsend-radio listener he collects, writing to her that he is about to arrive in London for some business. “I heard an interview from you on the radio that made me wonder if our love, in the context of a lifetime, had been fleeting or eternally immortal.”
The meeting between Margaret and Peter Townsend 35 years after the farewell. (Netflix)
They meet again at a reception and immediately the memories are rekindled on the notes of their song. Margaret squeezes her Peter’s hand and together they whirl in front of the gazes of the onlookers and it takes very little for the understanding of the past to re-emerge. The answer is in the kiss that they exchange a moment later. On the occasion of a possible no of the sister to the marriage of Anna (divorced) with Timothy Laurence, Margaret scolds the queen using the suffering of youth: “In the absence of water and sun, the fruits die, Lilibeth. (…) Peter was my water, my sun and you denied it to me“.
“I denied you as your queen, not as your sister”Elizabeth replies. But did the meeting really happen? In fact, Margaret and Townsend met againbut not as he describes The Crown. The meeting took place in 1993, at a lunch in Margaret’s apartment in Kensington Palace. According to the princess: “Peter was still the same, except for his white hair.”
Timothy Dalton is Peter Townsend
Lesley Manville plays Margaret. Credible not only in the voice, but also in the movements, in the look, in the way he holds the inseparable cigarette. Nonetheless the real star is Timothy Dalton (born March 21, 1946 in Colwyn Bay, Wales).
Actor in the history of cinema to be on the list of the few who played agent 007, in 007 – Danger zone (1987) and 007 – Private Revenge (1989). The two chapters following a Roger Moore. From the 2000s to today you have worked both in the cinema – Looney Tunes: Back in action And The Tourist – both in series – Hercules, Doctor Who, Chuck, Penny Dreadful And Doom Patrol.
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