Princess Margaret and her new husband Antony Armstrong-Jones leave Westminister Abbey after their wedding
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Princess Margaret’s late ex-husband, Lord Snowdon, who died in 2017, was reportedly ‘crushed’ that his children sold his former wife’s wedding tiara in 2006, a new episode of Channel 5 series, Secrets of the The Royals, reportedly claims.
The episode claims that ‘David Linley and his sister Sarah broke their father Lord Snowdon’s heart’ with their decision to sell 800 of their late mother’s items, including the Poltimore Tiara, according to the Daily Mail, who appears to have seen a preview episode of the series. Speaking on camera, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke, wife of the 11th Earl of Sandwich, reportedly adds, ‘This Christies’ auction was heartbreaking for Lord Snowdon… in fact, he wrote to his children asking them to stop it.’ Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret had divorced in 1978.
The Poltimore Tiara in front of a painting of Princess Margaret
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Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones’s two children, the 2nd Earl of Snowdon (formerly Viscount Linley) and Lady Sarah Chatto, raised nearly £14 million by selling their mother’s items in 2006, four years after her death aged 71.
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2019, the now-Lord Snowdon revealed that ‘There were many, many reasons, mostly financial, that persuaded us that that was the correct route because, you know, when people die, taxes need to be paid.’ He revealed that ‘getting rid of anything is not my natural habitat,’ adding, ‘I have a lot of clutter. I remember at the time there was a lot of worry as to whether anyone would come.’
Princess Margaret with Lord Snowdon and Viscount Linley at Kensington Palace shortly after the birth of her daughter, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones
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Among the items put up for sale was the Poltimore Tiara, which was worn by Princess Margaret when she married Lord Snowdon in spectacular fashion in 1960. The tiara was sold for £920,000, which far exceeded its estimated value of £150-200,000. A picture of Princess Margaret sitting in the bath, wearing nothing but the tiara, was released to the public by her family in 2006, before being removed from public view 11 years later.
The tiara, made in 1870 by Garrard – the royal jeweller behind Princess Diana’s engagement ring and the Amethyst Cross which was sold to Kim Kardashian this week – features an elaborate cluster of diamonds, scroll motifs and a brown ribbon which makes the tiara almost appear to float upon the head.
Originally made for Lady Poltimore, the wife of the second Baron Poltimore and Treasurer to Queen Victoria’s household, it remained in her family until it was acquired by the Royal Family at auction in early 1959; months before the then Anthony Armstrong-Jones proposed to Princess Margaret that October.
Daniel Chatto, the Countess of Snowdon, Lady Sarah Chatto and David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon
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The princess wasted no time in wearing the tiara. She donned the twinkling diadem to the ballet at Covent Garden in May 1959, during a state visit from the Shah of Iran. She also wore it as a necklace on a number of occasions before her wedding day; the flexible design of the tiara allowed it too be broken down into a necklace and 11 brooches.
But it was on her June 1960 wedding day that the tiara had its starring moment, perfectly finishing the silk organza Norman Hartnell gown. The 2006 buyer of the tiara remains unknown.
