Snowdon ‘goes it alone’

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 15

Snowdon ‘goes it alone’

NZPA London. Lord Snowdon, the estranged husband of Princess Margaret, is being shunned by the Queen and her family because of Royal protocol, says a prominent authority on the Royal Family. Since the Royal couple’s separation was announced, Buckingham Palace has virtually disowned him and he is being allowed no part of the jubilee celebrations. Writing in the “Sunday Mirror,” Andrey Whiting says: “The rules of Royalty are harsh. There can be no outward show of sympathy for those once so near and dear, but who no longer fit into the rigid Royal pattern.” Had things been different, there is no doubt

Lord SnowdOn would have played a prominent part in the jubilee programme, as he did at the last major Royal occasion, the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales. Instead, “the man who was so laved by the Queen Mother, admired and respected by the Queen, and a close friend of Prince Philip and Prince Charles, is now a very lonely man.” The one person in the Royal marriage brake-up who is winning is Princess Margaret, says Miss Whiting. She is fitter than she has been for years and is carrying out a full programme of Royal duties. “She is part and parcel of jubilee year,” says Miss Whiting. “But Tony has to go it alone.”