Peter Townsend and Princess Margaret: that scandalous love told by his daughter

This entry is posted on number 19 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until May 6, 2025

It takes courage to overcome storms and not inflict pain in others, when the heart is breaking. It is the acts that distinguish real heroes, and make them eternal. Isabelle Townsend’s eyes come on stories that the heart has kept for a long time. His voice reveals deep emotions. It incredibly resembles his father, and there are moments in which we are almost felt his presence, while we speak.

The captain of Aerial Squadron Peter Townsend He was a British Royal Air Force officer and was declared hero for merits during the Second World War. Later, he became an acclaimed writer and left us masterpieces. His daughter is completing his unfinished work for Nagasaki’s postmanthe story of Summitu Taniguchi, who was sixteen and was delivering the mail on August 9, 1945, when the atomic bomb was released on Nagasaki.

She was a model, actress, writer and producer. Which of these roles made it happier?
«Everything I have done in life has helped me to grow. Acting on the stage was satisfying. I worked with exceptional cast and directors, in particular Irina Brook. In 2013 we staged a theatrical show at the Spoleto Festival, it was fantastic. There is something special in creating a theatrical work and giving her life in front of the public. I have been proposed to me recently, we will make a first reading in May. Now that I am more than 60 years old, I would like to devote myself more to the narrative ».

How did it become a model?
«By chance, I’ve never wanted it. I was in the last year of school when my friend Estelle asked me to accompany her to an agency, after a scout had stopped her on the street. As I expected, the director asked me if I was interested in becoming a star, but I replied not. When I started the university in Paris, I called him to earn something and asked me to do a photographic audition. I put on myself and went dressed in a huge sweater. The agency sent the photos to the magazine Elle. At the time Oliviero Toscani was the artistic director. Even before I could understand what was going on, I found myself on the cover of January 1980 ».

Ralph Lauren chose her as a brand face in 1988.
«I often worked with Bruce Weber, who chose me for a photo shoot for Ralph Lauren. I remember the set in Miami, I wore a pink swimsuit and I had beautiful men around. Of that costume selling thousands of that summer. Ralph made me sign a contract. I only saw him during the tests of the parades twice a year, but I remember his kindness. My dearest memories are linked to photo shoots with Bruce Weber and the troupe. They were wonderful with me. We went to the most incredible places and it seemed to me that I was on the set of a film, interpreting
The daughter, his wife, sister, lover or cavalry ».

She worked with some of the most iconic photographers of the last forty years. Who managed to grasp his personality?
«Bruce Weber. He staged fantastic stories that inspired everyone, from the models to the stylists, to those who prepared the sets. Then Sacha Van Dorssen, a special person. I loved working with her because she made her shots almost painted, which rarely happens these days. Peter Lindbergh has always been able to bring out the strength of women in his images. He took me extraordinary photos, and we found ourselves when my husband did him as an agent. We became great friends and chose to work with me even when I was 40. One of my latest campaigns was
taken by him, that of the clock Patek Philippe, one of my favorite photos. Finally, Arthur Elgort. We laughed a lot. He told me he never felt too comfortable, and it was a very useful advice ».

How did it go first to the cinema, then to the theater and the performative arts?
«It happened naturally and it was also my choice. I attended New York Actors Studio for three years, learning Lee Strasberg’s method. I started making off Broadway shows and small roles in movies. Then I met my husband and, when I became a mother, I chose to dedicate myself to the children’s theater. I had read the English classics as a young man and I decided to make interactive shows for high school students in France. I did it for twenty years in the classes, in collaboration with the teachers, for three weeks at a time. I remember that some
students were afraid to participate. Towards the end of the third week they raised their hand spontaneously, for me it meant a lot ».

Peter Townsend and Princess Margaret

Ullstein Bild Dtl./getty Images

After the Second World War, Isabelle’s father began working as a Scudiero di King Giorgio VI. Peter Townsend was married to Rosemary Pawle and had two children. In 1947 he met Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth. She was 17 years old and he 32. They fell in love, a tormented relationship began.
After the death of the king, Townsend was promoted to the service of the mother queen, and in 1952 he divorced his wife. Princess Margaret and Townsend wanted to get married, but there were too many obstacles to overcome. The Church of England was not in favor of divorce and did not approve of their union. In addition, Margaret needed her sister permission to get married. The queen asked her to wait until she turned 25, but then she still denied permission by giving in
to the pressure of the British Church and government.
The prime minister, Anthony Eden, agreed to modify the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, so the princess and Townsnd no longer needed the approval of the queen, who agreed to the amendment. However, the consequences related to marriage proved too serious for Margaret, who announced the end of the engagement in 1955.
She returned to real life, Townsend moved to Belgium. It was a painful separation, and their story remains one of the biggest scandals that the English royal family has ever faced. In Belgium, Townsend met Marie-Luce Jamagne and had three children, among whom Isabelle was the
greater.

From the works, his father emerges as a sensitive person, capable of expressing strong emotions with elegance and dignity. Do you believe that her relationship with Princess Margaret was too large a weight?
«He had a difficult life when their bond became public. I believe that the end of the relationship was a decision they made together, and perhaps it was the best choice for him. My father was fond of the royal family, who has always respected him. He appreciated their support, but felt abandoned by the establishment and only in facing the press. The consequences were probably more complicated for her. My father had to leave England, but he was able to make up for a lifetime. He met my mother and immediately got along. They loved horses, nature, gardening. She was affectionate and made him smile. They had a wonderful relationship and the long marriage is proof of this ».

Perhaps with Margaret they were too different and he would not have been happy if they had remained together, while his mother was the true love of his life. Does it agree?
“Absolutely. What happened with Princess Margaret caught him by surprise, fell madly in love. But I think they were not made for each other, and that he really fell in love with my mother. Their first meeting was epic. She was making an obstacle jumping path on horseback, he was among the audience and she fell in front of him, breaking a clavicle. He rescued it and the spark has struck ».

What father was and what was the most important thing he taught?
«My mother was much younger, but he knew how to create a safe environment where he could work, while wrote. Sometimes it was difficult, but she understood and took care of the house. I remember when I visited him, while he was absorbed in the work. Maybe he would have liked to be more present, but I have beautiful memories. When I wondered what to do with my life as a teenager, he told me he was curious, travel and remain faithful to myself. It was a pure soul ».

She resumed her father’s work where he had left him, about Nagasaki’s postman. Did you consider it a mission of life?
«I received an email from the postman Summitu Taniguchi twenty -four years after the death of my father. He asked me if the book could be republished in Japanese. I started working with the publisher Yoshihiro Saito in Tokyo, who presented me Mika Kawase, the director, and we decided to shoot a documentary based on the book. It became a necessity and made me understand why my father had written it, discovering one of his side I didn’t know. Taniguchi was to be the main character, but he died eight years ago. He had several tumors and suffered due to the radiation he had been exposed to, but he was courageous and never surrendered. I met him in 1985 when he came to Paris, I dreamed of going to Nagasaki to be a documentary with him, but I didn’t have time. With Kawase we decided to rewrite the script from my point of view. My father and taniguchi were understood as both surviving, even if in different circumstances. My father’s plane was knocked down during the war. Taniguchi passed hell, but he never considered himself a martyr. That’s why my father admired him so much. In my father’s study I found some letters, his notes and twelve ribbons with the interviews of the interviews made in Taniguchi. This documentary is a tribute to life, has something poetic and personal. The Japanese have a special aesthetic sense. They are able to see the beauty also in the cruelty of a tragedy ».

Today many are afraid of a new atomic war. What do you think?
«There is a change in progress and it is time that people begin to be felt. I hope the documentary inspires the new generations and sensitizes on the use of nuclear weapons. The effects are irreversible and the consequences enormous, on a physical and psychological level. I think we will talk about our work for a long time ».

The book Nagasaki’s postman It is available in English and Japanese. He will be posted in French in May by the Les Édizions Les Belles Letres publishing house. The documentary will be released in France on May 27 for the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It will then be presented in international film festivals and broadcast on television, also in Italy.

Her father will be proud of her.
«I excite me to say, but I think this is. One day he told me that I would read his books only after his disappearance, he was right. He always told me that “you should never give up”. Now he knows I’ve never done it ».

To subscribe to Vanity Fair, Click here.