Queen Elizabeth II reportedly broke Princess Margaret's heart once and her younger sister resented her for doing it. Here's what actually happened to the royal siblings.
According to the Channel 5's Royal War documentary, royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter said Queen Elizabeth's opposition towards the affair of Princess Margaret and their father's equerry Captain Peter Townsend caused a huge conflict between the two ladies. It added that the rift between Her Majesty and the Countess of Snowdon "never really healed."
Arbiter noted the Church wasn't going to give any "special dispensation" and the politicians were not to "okay" it. Queen Elizabeth's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter also recalled this matter and how Her Majesty warned her younger sister.
Reportedly, Princess Margaret would not be a princess anymore if she decided to marry Townsend. And if ever she is no longer a princess, the Queen's younger sister could no longer live at the Kensington Palace and she will no longer receive money from the civil list.
Biographer Hugo Vickers said in his book Elizabeth: The Queen Mother that this incident has been reported in the foreign press and the speculations reportedly grew strong about Princess Margaret and the former pilot's romance. He added that Princess Margaret and Townsend carried out a discreet courtship at Balmoral, Sandringham, as well as Windsor, during the times when divorce was not yet accepted in the royal family.
However, shortly after the coronation of Her Majesty, Townsend was reportedly sent to Brussels for a two-year engagement with the British Embassy, which is their way to quell the press interest in the scandal. Yet, the former pilot claimed that Queen Elizabeth seemed to have accepted the situation once.
But on Oct. 31, 1995, Princess Margaret made the most difficult decision in her life. She chose to put her responsibilities, as well as duties as a royal ahead of her love for Townsend. On that same date, she released a statement and confirmed to everyone that she will no longer marry the love of her life.
As per royal author Katie Nicholl, the close relationship of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret has changed from that moment. She noted that the Countess of Snowdon resented her older sister for not giving her the blessing to marry Townsend.
Her Majesty's decision has also reportedly led to tensions and difficulties in their relationship throughout the years. In fact, several years after that happened, Princess Margaret claimed no one really warned about the dangers of what she's doing, and she's reportedly blaming her older sister.
