The Crown S5 E4 real history: the

Queen’s “annus horribilis” and

Princess Margaret’s relationship
with Peter Townsend
www.historyextra.com

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What happened during 1992, Queen Elizabeth’s

“annus horribilis” (horrible year)?
The year 1992 saw the demise of not one, but three of the
Queen’s children’s marriages. In March, it was announced
that Prince Andrew and Duchess Sarah Ferguson would
legally separate, an announcement soon followed in April
of the divorce of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips. In
December, the third announcement came, with the royal
family declaring that “with regret, the Prince and Princess
of Wales have decided to separate”.

When did Princess Anne marry Timothy Laurence?

In this episode, we see Anne declare that she will marry

Timothy Laurence. “You cannot have all of me,” she tells
her mother, the Queen. “And I will not give all of me. I will
marry Tim.”

And marry him, she did. It was not long after her
separation, in December 1992, that they made their vows.
As the Church of England did not allow remarriages
following divorce, they married in Scotland with only 30
guests.
Princess Anne (Claudia Harrison) and Timothy Laurence
(Theo Fraser Steele) in 'The Crown'

Commander Tim Laurence and Princess Anne are seen in

their car after their wedding at Crathie Church 12
December 1992 in Scotland (Photo by EPA/AFP via Getty
Images)

In June 1992, came the publication of Andrew Morton’s

Diana: Her True Story, which Sarah Gristwood describes as
a “damning portrayal of what Diana saw as an unfeeling
husband and uncaring monarchy”. Diana’s communication
with Morton makes up much of the narrative in episode
three, as she shares her experiences via tapes.

Unfortunately, the upset of 1992 did not relent. On 20

November, the Queen and Prince Phillip’s 45th wedding
anniversary, a fire tore through Windsor Castle. Within
three hours of it being spotted, there were 225 firefighters
from seven counties attending the scene. At the peak of
the operation, 36 pumps were discharging 1.5m gallons of
water.

Read more | Annus Horribilis: What happened in the

Queen's horrible year?

However, the damage still proved devastating, and over

100 rooms were destroyed.

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This could not have happened at a worse time – the

country was, as Sarah Gristwood says, “in the grip of a
recession” and rejected the Conservative government’s
declaration that they would pay for repairs, leaving the
royals to foot the bill. To contribute to the costs, the royal
family opened state rooms in Buckingham Palace to the
public.

The official completion date for Windsor’s restoration was

five years to the day after the fire, on the 50th wedding
anniversary of the Queen and Prince Phillip.

Did Queen Elizabeth make a public address at

Guildhall?

The Queen (Imelda Staunton) making her 'annus horribilis'

address in 'The Crown'

Queen Elizabeth did make a public address at the

Guildhall, and only four days after the Windsor fire. It was
during a celebration of the 40th anniversary of her reign as
monarch.

In this episode of The Crown, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother,

demands her daughter stays at home due to illness. Her
Majesty refuses: “It’s a lunch to celebrate me,” she says, “I
can’t pull out. And I don’t want to pull out.”

Queen Elizabeth II did, indeed, attend the lunch and the

televised speech went ahead. “1992 is not a year on which
I shall look back with undiluted pleasure,” she remarked,
her voice thick with cold.

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Who was Peter Townsend?

Peter Townsend was sixteen years older than Princess

Margaret, and had been an officer in the RAF. The two met
when Townsend was appointed as equerry to Margaret’s
father, George VI, in 1944 – a job which involved him
seeing both Margaret and Elizabeth almost daily.
Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville) and Peter Townsend
(Timothy Dalton) in 'The Crown'

And Princess Margaret fell in love. The relationship was

concealed by the royal family, until the Queen’s Coronation
Day. Margaret was spotted by a journalist removing a
piece of fluff from Townsend’s uniform – a brief, yet
affectionate gesture – and the action was taken as
confirmation of their rumoured romance. The press went
wild.

Did Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend spend an afternoon in the

crimson drawing room at Windsor Castle?

There is a touching moment depicted between Princess

Margaret and Townsend in this episode, following the
Windsor fire, where they discuss an afternoon they shared
together in its crimson drawing room long ago, during their
secret courtship.

Peter Townsend confirms this did happen in his 1978

memoir, Time and Chance: “We talked, in the red drawing
room at Windsor Castle, for hours – about ourselves. She
[Princess Margaret] listened, without uttering a word, as I
told her, very quietly, of my feelings. Then she simply said:
‘That is exactly how I feel, too’.”

In The Crown, the two remember how they shared their

wishes for the future: “Like our plans,” Margaret says, “I’m
afraid the crimson room did not survive”.

Why did the relationship between Princess

Margaret and Peter Townsend end?

There was a key issue that prevented the two from

marrying – Townsend was divorced. This meant the
Queen, as Head of the Church of England, could not
provide her consent.

Read more | "Cheap men and expensive bottles":

Princess Margaret's love affairs

In 1955, Princess Margaret had two options: to give up

much of her royal status and marry Townsend, or to
renounce him and remain a royal. She chose the latter: “I
have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter
Townsend,” she said in a statement in the October of that
year, also noting she was “mindful of the church’s
teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and
conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth”.

Diana with Sarah Ferguson at the Guard's Polo Club,

Windsor, June 1983 (Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty
Images)

Yes, and it was another incident that contributed to the

Queen’s “annus horribilis”.

Sarah Gristwood says: “August 1992 saw the Daily Mirror

publishing photographs of the Duchess of York by a
swimming pool, having her toes sucked by her ‘financial
advisor’ John Bryan.”

This incident, snapped by an Italian tabloid photographer

during the duchess’ holiday in southern France, is just one
example that the drama leans on to demonstrate the
growing differences in the relationship between the royals
and the press.

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The royal family’s relationship with the press is also

addressed in series one, and their privacy is respected far
more than in later episodes. There is a moment when
Elizabeth is in Africa, shortly after becoming queen.
“Knowing that she had just lost her father,” historical
consultant Robert Lacey told HistoryExtra, “photographers
bowed their head and put their cameras on the ground, not
taking photographs. We know that happened – chapter
and verse.

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By the 1990s, the royals represented something very

different for the tabloids, and in this season the drama
chooses to depict this evolving lack of deference or
respect.

In reality, the duchess – still legally married to Prince

Andrew – was at Balmoral when the photographs were
published. In a much quoted though possibly apocryphal
moment, Prince Philip reportedly handed Sarah a copy of
the paper and quipped: “There but for the grace of God go
I”.

Read more | Where is The Crown filmed? The Netflix

drama’s locations and their royal links

Princess Margaret was one royal who didn’t mask her

feelings. In a letter to the duchess following the incident,
she wrote: “You have done more to bring shame on the
family than could ever have been imagined,” adding that
“Not once have you hung your head in embarrassment
even for a minute after those disgraceful photographs.”

Did the Queen often speak on the phone with Princess

Margaret?

The sisters were extremely close, and had a direct phone

line running between their homes so they could talk to
each other whenever they wished.

Queen Mother With Queen And Princess Margaret At

Badminton (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
Images)

“Goodnight, Lilibet,” Princess Margaret says in the final

moments of this episode, referencing the nickname used
by close family for the Queen since her childhood years. “I
do love you.”

“I love you too,” the Queen replies.

This is a touching exchange made bittersweet when we

consider the timeline of the drama contrasted with the
final years of Princess Margaret’s life; the Queen’s younger
sister died in 2002 after a significant period of ill health.

Next episode | The Crown S5 E5 real history:

‘Camillagate’ tapes and a “war council” for the
monarchy’s survival