When asked once at a party in NYC about the
Queen’s health, Princess Margaret replied: “Which one? My sister, my mother or my husband?”
I am a fan of the work of gifted & important photographer, Anthony Armstrong-Jones, or as I like to call him – Lordy Snowdon. He has
enjoyed astonishingly active & varied love-life, 2 wives, 2 illegitimate
children & a lover's suicide, & several affairs with men. Princess Margaret
was initially surprised that her husband had no intention of giving up his
rising photographic career. Because Armstrong-Jones travelled around the world
to complete assignments, he was often separated from his wife for many months
at a time. The Princess was known to do some partying herself. Princess Margaret: “When
we first met, I thought he was very pleasant but everybody told me that he was
queer.”
His official biographer- Anne de Courcy blithely noted: “Tony, though small in stature, was
well-endowed. Tony's always been driven by 2 things: work & sex. A day
without either was considered a total waste. He was proud of his conquests of
both sexes. If it moved, he would have it”
Among his lovers were British interior decorator Nicholas
Haslam & another leading interior decorator- Tom Parr, Jeremy Fry, best man
at the Royal wedding in 1960 & the Queen Mother's long-serving page-
William Tallon, or Backstairs Billy, as he was known in the Royal household.
Anthony-Jones would go on to have an affair with buddy- Fry’s wife & father
a child with her, while carrying on their affair.
The break-up of Princess Margaret & Armstrong-Jones
lasted 16 years, with a great deal of drugs, booze, & bizarre behavior by
both parties, such as Armstrong-Jones's leaving lists between the pages of the
princess’s book, of "things I hate about you".
Armstrong-Jones was able to use of a hideaway cottage
with his lovers, or had assignations overseas on photographic assignments; most
people, including the Royal Family, looked the other way.
Armstrong-Jones’s uncle was Oliver Messel, the famous
stage designer. Messel would rent an apartment in Venice & would stay with
him there during in the summer, bringing a handsome man for each of them
including Parr, who was to become head of the fine antiques & design
company Colefax & Fowler, now lives with his male partner in France.
Armstrong-Jones has 5 children: wood artist & Christie's
chairman Viscount Linley & painter Lady Sarah Chatto, both with Princess
Margaret, daughter- Frances, by filmmaker Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, who he married
within months of his divorce from Princess Margaret in 1978. They were divorced
in 2000 after she discovered that he had a son- Jasper, with Melanie
Cable-Alexander, the editor of Country Life, & Polly Fry, a photographer,
like him.
In 1996, his mistress of 20 years- journalist Ann Hills,
took a lethal overdose of pills washed down with champagne. Police found her
suicide message on her answering machine, saying that she was distressed that
Armstrong-Jones could not see her over Christmas Holidays. An inquest
concluded that she was distressed by her failure to find a lasting
relationship.
I have read that Armstrong-Jones had affairs with women & only flings with men & it is easy to understand which ones he thought
were less trouble.
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, turns 82 years old today. He can still get that big thing up, or so my sources tell me.
Armstrong-Jones worked as a photographer using the name- Lord Snowdon. In the course of his career, he photographed almost
anyone of any importance in the fashion & arts world. I remember a shot he did
for Vogue, of a model standing among a pile of cars in a junk yard in Queens,
New York. Very outre for 1957.
He once photographed Rudolf Nureyev in his ordinary
clothes & asked him to remove the handkerchief from his trouser pocket
because it looked ridiculous. Nureyev said: "that is no hankie…". Armstrong-Jones:“I’m not a
great one for chatting people up because it’s phony, I don’t want people to
feel at ease. You want a bit of edge. There are quite long, agonized silences.
I love it. Something strange might happen. I mean, taking photographs is a very
nasty thing to do. It’s very cruel.”
This remains my favorite photograph of Princess Diana