When Princess Margaret turned 25 and was no longer bound to do what her sister told her, it was widely expected that she and Group Captain Townsend would announce their engagement. At that time, the Princess was third in line for the throne, after the Queen's two children at the time, Charles and Anne.īut though Group Captain Townsend was dashing and distinguished, he was also divorced, making him anathema to a royal family, and a government, still reeling from Edward VIII's abdication in 1936 to marry an American, Wallis Simpson, who was divorced. Their mutual fondness became public at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, when photographs showed the group captain and the Princess beaming at each other and laughing.

The romance between the young Princess and Group Captain Townsend, a shy, handsome hero from the Battle of Britain who worked as the Queen's equerry, captured the public's imagination. The Queen sent a private message of condolence to Group Captain Townsend's widow, Marie Luce, the palace said. Princess Margaret, 64, who is believed to have always considered Group Captain Townsend the great love of her life, was said by a spokesman at Buckingham Palace to be 'sad' at the news of his death. He was 80 years old and had been ill for some time. Peter Townsend, the divorced war hero forced 40 years ago by the royal family and the British Government to end his love affair with Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died in Paris on Monday night, the British Embassy said. This book will be of interest to students of sociology and gerontology. Part two discusses the social problems of old age against this background. The life of these families is of absorbing interest and the social structure of the home, the system of family care and the domestic, economic and social relationships between husbands and their wives, and between old people and their children and brothers and sisters, are carefully analysed. Part one shows that most people are members of closely-knit extended families of three generations, often living in separate households in adjoining streets. First published in 1957, The Family Life of Old People opens with the question: Are old people isolated from their families? Thereafter, the author describes the results of intensive interviews with people of pensionable age in Bethnal Green in East London.

Time and chance by peter townsend