Princess Margaret was 'taken advantage of' by Peter Townsend while she was just 15

Princess Margaret was reportedly “taken advantage of” by Peter Townsend while she was 15 years old, claimed Lady Anne Glenconner as she spoke about their relationship.

It has been widely reported that Princess Margaret was a teenager when she first met Peter Townsend.

Lady Anne Glenconner’s recent verdict on Townsend is not flattering.

Townsend, who died in 1995, recalled at the time of his appointment that Margaret was ‘as unremarkable as one would expect of a 14-year-old girl’.

Lady Anne, 91, says Queen Elizabeth II’s sister remembered it differently, wrote Richard Eden for MailOnline.

She said: “I once asked her about it, actually. He was a war hero, very attractive. She was very, very young. She was only 15 [sic] when he first arrived and he was a married man. I think he encouraged her, which he shouldn’t have done.”

When asked on today’s Rosebud podcast if she thinks Townsend, 15 years Margaret’s senior, was taking advantage of his proximity to her, Lady Anne says she does.

She added: “That isn’t something that has been brought out very much, but I couldn’t agree more.”

According to multiple reports, Peter had been interviewed by Margaret’s father, George VI, for a position as his equerry, when he first met the 14-year-old princess at Buckingham Palace. Peter later recalled that she was “as unremarkable as one would expect of a 14-year-old girl.”

Their romance began eight years later, when 22-year-old Margaret fell in love with Peter soon after the death of her father in 1952.

Peter was married to Cecil Rosemary Pawle after a short engagement. The couple had two sons, but after his wife had an affair, Peter filed for divorce in November 1952.

In May 1960, Princess Margaret married a magazine photographer, Antony Armstrong-Jones, later known as Lord Snowden, at Westminster Abbey.

The couple had two children, David and Sarah, before they divorced in 1978.

Townsend and the princess met again in 1993, which is thought to be the last time they saw each other. Margaret died in February 2002 at the age of 71, seven years after Peter died aged 80.