War hero, equerry, round-the-world traveller... and Princess Margaret's lover: How there was much more to Group Captain Peter Townsend than his status as the royal husband that never was

Townsend and Margaret were in love but she was not able to marry him READ MORE: The royal scandal linked to William and Kate's Windsor retreat: Four-bed Adelaide Cottage was once home to Princess Margaret's lover

He was a war hero, a former equerry to the King and the man Princess Margaret was not allowed to marry.

And although the latter fact was perhaps the least interesting thing about the fascinating Group Captain Peter Townsend, it is the reason his name still resonates today.

The former RAF pilot, who died 29 years ago today from stomach cancer, served King George VI from 1944 to 1952 after fighting in the Second World War.

He met the young Princess Margaret when, as the King's equerry, he was living at Adelaide Cottage - now the home of Prince William and Kate - at Windsor.

Margaret and her elder sister, the future Queen Elizabeth II, would take tea in the gardens with their mother, Townsend and his wife Rosemary and the couple's young sons.

Townsend and Margaret are believed to have become romantically involved before his formal split from his wife in 1952 - but they were deterred from marrying because of his status as a divorced man.

After Margaret publicly ended their relationship, Townsend went on to re-marry and have three children with his second wife - Belgian heiress Marie-Luce Jamagne, who was 25 years his junior.

His exploits after his relationship with Margaret ended included a trip around the world and a career as a wine merchant.

Group Captain Peter Townsend (pictured during his time in the RAF) was made equerry to King George VI - and it was this position which would eventually spark a romance with Princess Margaret

Margaret with Group Captain Peter Townsend in South Africa during the royal tour in 1947

Princess Margaret, Princess Elizabeth and Group Captain Peter Townsend in the Royal Box at Ascot in June 1955

Townsend was born on November 22, 1914, in Rangoon, Burma, to Lieutenant Colonel Edward Townsend and his wife Gladys.

One of seven children, Peter was just a few months old when his mother brought him back to the family home in Devon.

He joined the Royal Air Force in 1930, training at RAF Cranwell, and was commissioned as a pilot officer in 1935.

Following four years of service, Peter went on to serve as a Squadron Leader in the Battle of Britain in the Second World War.

At one point, he was shot down during combat and had to have one of his big toes amputated.

He was mentioned in despatches for his role in protecting shipping convoys from the air and shooting down enemy aircraft.

In 1944, Townsend was appointed to the position that would cement his place in royal history.

After Margaret announced that she was not going to marry Townsend, the former airman embarked on a round-the-world trip. Above: Townsend in China in 1957

Princess Margaret wearing sunglasses at the Farnborough Air Show as Group Captain Peter Townsend sits behind her, 1950

Peter Townsend, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth during the Royal Tour of South Africa in 1947

Captain Peter Townsend with his sons, Giles, then 16, and Hugo, then 12, crossing the road from the Carlton Hotel in Cannes in 1958

Group Captain Peter Townsend arriving at a film premiere with his wife, Rosemary, in 1952

Group Captain Peter Townsend with his second wife Marie-Luce Jamagne and their daughter

Margaret posing ahead of the premier for 'Hamlet' at the Leicester Square Odeon in December 1953

In 1947, his role as equerry saw him accompany Margaret during a three-month royal tour of South Africa in 1947.

Townsend would then have been aged 32, whilst Margaret was 17.

She later told a confidante: 'We rode together every morning in that wonderful country, in marvellous weather. That’s when I really fell in love with him.'

Townsend found himself drawn to Princess Margaret's love of life, as he explained in his book, Time and Chance: An Autobiography: 'She was a girl of unusual, intense beauty, confined as it was in her short, slender figure and centred about large purple-blue eyes, generous, sensitive lips and a complexion as smooth as a peach.

'Yet I dare say that there was not one among them more touched by the Princess's joie de vivre than I, for, in my present marital predicament, it gave me what I most lacked - joy.'

Margaret later admitted to having a 'terrific crush' on Townsend when she first met him.

The pair's romance was cemented when they grew closer following the death of King George in 1952.

'During 1952, Princess Margaret and I found increasing solace in one another's company,' Townsend wrote.

'The year began with the Princess's grief, caused by the sudden death of her father; it continued with the change in her own family situation - living alone with her mother (whom she adored) - and the steady deterioration in mine; it ended in the break-up of my family.

'If on the material plane, as well as temperamentally, the Princess and I were worlds apart, we responded, in our feelings and emotions, as one.'

Princess Margaret attending the premiere of the film 'Captain Horatio Hornblower' at the Warner Theatre Leicester Square in 1951

Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend leaving Windsor Castle on April 12, 1952

While Peter had previously been married to Miss Cecil Rosemary Pawle since 1941, with whom he had two sons, he eventually filed for a divorce in November 1952 after she had an affair.

In April 1953, less than a year after his divorce from Rosemary, Townsend proposed to Margaret.

Their relationship became public after the Queen's Coronation in June that year, when Margaret was seen tenderly removing a piece of fluff from Townsend's uniform.

However, Margaret's sister, now the Queen, had to consent to her marriage to a divorced man.

The monarch's status as head of the Church of England complicated things.

With both the royal family and the British government still recovering from Edward VIII's abdication in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, who was divorced, Queen Elizabeth was advised it would be unconstitutional for her to approve the match.

It was decided that Townsend would be sent away to work as an air attaché for the British Embassy in Brussels for a year, after which, the couple was asked to wait another year.

Although Margaret had now turned 25, they were still denied the right to wed, and the government - led by Prime Minister Anthony Eden - stated that if she married her love then she would be stripped of her royal privileges as well as her income.

Group Captain Peter Townsend pictured at the Farnborough Air Show in 1955

The Daily Mail front page on November 1, 1955, announcing that Princess Margaret had decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend

Margaret and Townsend were finally reunited on October 12, 1955.

However, three weeks later, a statement drafted in Princess Margaret's name read: 'I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend.

'I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage.

'But, mindful of the Church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have decided to put these considerations before any others.'

Having returned to Belgium heartbroken after Margaret's decision, he went on to marry Ms Jamagne in 1959 and the couple had two daughters and one son.

It was noted that the young woman bore a striking resemblance to Princess Margaret.

Their children Isabelle, Marie-Françoise, and Pierre were born in 1961, 1963 and 1964 respectively.

In May 1960 Margaret married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.

The princess and the Earl of Snowden, as Armstrong-Jones became, had children David and Sarah together but divorced in 1978.

In 1978, 23 years after his separation from Margaret, Townsend released his autobiography, Time and Chance, where he expressed his peace with her choice.

He wrote: 'She could have married me only if she had been prepared to give up everything - her position, her prestige, her privy purse.

'I simply hadn't the weight, I knew it, to counterbalance all she would have lost.'

Townsend and the Princess met again in 1992 for lunch at her apartment in Kensington Palace. This was believed to be their final meeting.

Before marrying his second wife, Townsend embarked on an epic round-the-world trip that saw him travel to places including Hong Kong, Australia, the Congo, South America and Belgium.

His travels were documented in French documentary Passeport pour le Monde and his book Earth My Friend.

He later forged a career as a wine merchant - a trade which his eldest son Giles - who died in 2015 - followed him into.

Giles' brother Hugo, who was born in 1945, has spent time living as a monk and is a trained psychotherapist.

Townsend's daughter Isabelle became a fashion model and actress, whilst Marie-Françoise works for an interior designer and Pierre has spent his career in the humanitarian sector.

Townsend's travels were documented in French documentary Passeport pour le Monde and his book Earth My Friend (left). His autobiography, Time and Chance, was first published in 1978. The most recent edition was released in 2022

After Townsend's death at his home in France at the age of 80, the attendance at his funeral demonstrated how respected he was.

As well as friends and family, he was honoured by the presence of the British Ambassador to France, who represented the Queen.

Battle of Britain pilot Air Commodore Sir Archie Windskill represented the Queen Mother.

Princess Margaret was not present but is believed to have sent a private message to Marie-Luce.

Margaret kept Townsend's letters to her and kept them in bundles.

She decreed before her death in 2002 that they must not be read until 2030 - 100 years from her birth.