Snowdon: The Biography [Paperback]

Just before I got this wonderful biography I was presented with one of the book on the photographs of Lord Snowdon - not my first one - and could learn about and admire the Snowdon style over the years. The photos show a lot about the artist Snowdon and his unique and distinctive photographic style. Day light is his most important "ingredient". Looking at his works one can discover British history of the last 50 years without reading one word. Anne de Courcy describes Lord Snowdon's work in great detail, with knowledge and admiration as working was and is an absolute must for his man

Well, of course that is not all: his background, family, education and of course his marriage to and divorce from Princess Margaret, his relationship with the Royal Family and his children are discussed at great length. His second marriage and its breakdown and his many relationships with other women, often conducted parallel, are explained and discussed. Here Lord Snowdon emerges as a less attractive personality. But there is something very loveable about him as all his wives and partners never really left him or he them. So there must be something extremely attractive about him. Anne de Courcy is the first to inform the public about another love child of the Lord. Strangely she did not mention the marriage of his daughter Frances.

At last, Anne de Courcy describes his work for the disabled which earned him a Life Peerage, so that he could speak in the Lords even after the Reform which expelled most Hereditary Peers.

All in all, this is just a fantastic book which captures this complex, many-sided personality to perfection. Her style of writing is great - there is great flow, one follows the development of this unique personality, gains understanding, she is not at all blind to his flaws and spells them out, but there is never an accusation and judgemental tone. It is a rare gem of a biography. In short this is a must read!!

I have just finished a book on Princess Margaret, and was told that accomplished author Anne de Courcy had written an authorized biography about Antony Armstrong-Jones,also known as Lord Snowdon.
The book was written with his approval and full support, and he asked his many friends and acquaintances to make themselves available to Ms deCourcy
should she wish to interview them.
And it is a detailed, warts and all account of Snowdons life and many loves.
Tony's mother was an English Jewess, his father a Welshman. They divorced when he was just a boy. His mother was vain, unreasonable, demanding and self centred. She reminded me very much of the actor Peter Lawford's mother.
His father, a barrister was not a constant figure in his son's life - although they did share a great love of and pride in their Welsh roots.
Whilst he was still a schoolboy, Tony contracted the polio virus which was threatening the lives and welfare of many children world wide at that time.He was hospitalized in Liverpool, bedridden for 6 months, visited only by he much loved sister,Susan.
He was educated at Eton and Cambridge where he studied architecture and later became interested in the theatre, and began doing their publicity photo's. And from there his name as a talented photographer started to gain attention. Later on he upset Cecil Beaton (for years the Royal Family's official photographer) when the Queen requested Tony after seeing some of his work at a friends home.
He was known to be outgoing, ebullient, with a wide circle of friends and a busy business and social life. He loved the ladies, but was also known to have several close male homosexual friends from university with whom he spent a lot of time, so the rumours about Tony were always rife one way or another.
Much has been documented over the years about Princess Margaret, her excesses, her spoilt, wilfull behaviour, her drinking, lovers et al.
Yet there was no doubt in my mind that she loved Tony deeply, probably all her adult life. Both were vain, selfish, self centred, and both had healthy sexual appetites, loved parties and being leaders of the "in" crowd.
In the early years of their marriage they mingled with actors, royalty, and pop singers, models, artists, people of wealth, privelege and power.
They were as famous as, and in as much demand as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, or Mick jagger, or Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Tony wanted children desperately and Margaret was only too happy to oblige. He enjoys a close relationship with his children to this day.
But Tony began to resent the Royal duties, became bored and began to find excuses not to accompany his wife.
He retreated to his office in the basement of his home, where he would spend long hours working, sometimes on design where his architectural background was so handy.
Margaret was banned from interrupting him and they started having blazing rows. His treatment of his wife entered the abusive, cruel stage, where nothing she did was right, he humiliated her in front of others and when ever he was overseas working on one of his projects, he would simply refuse to answer her calls, and never contact her for weeks.
This was the side of Snowdon that the Royal family didn't see (they all adored him) and Princess Margaret must have been very lonely and unhappy during these years.
Both started seeing other people,a situation that continued for some years
until the Queen stepped in after her sister was photographed in a bathing suit on Mustique with Roddy Llewellen.
They were divorced and Tony married Lucy Lindsay Hogg who gave birth to a daughter. However, he'd been having a secret affair on the side, and this relationship made Tony a father for the fourth time. It also brought about the end of his marriage to Lucy.
Lord Snowdon seems to be a man of great warmth and charm, a tireless worker and a champion of the disabled. His blatant disregard for the feelings of others, is balanced by his genuine interest in young people, and concern for those who can't always speak up for themselves. Wheelchair access into all government buildings in Britain was one area where he made his feelings felt, often shaming officials into making changes in buildings and car parking areas and suggesting changes in building plans so that the needs of the disabled were not forgotten.
This biography is a beautifully written,well researched,enticing study of a man,(seriously flawed perhaps), but wonderfully entertaining and enthusiastic about life and the living of it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lord Snowdon is most noted for his marriage to Princess Margaret, but as this biography informs us he was also involved in many other activities during his life-and probably still is.This book covers his very colourful life warts and all. He was involved in many activities designed to help the disabled and less fortunate people in our society. He also appears to be very promiscous,and seems to have many affairs and sired many children pout of marriage-and as the author tells us it was done with the compliance of Lord Snowdon so we have to take his word on how many children he has.
This was an interesting book, but I felt that Anne De Courcy was on the side of Lord Snowdon, and therefore lacked total honesty. She seemed to include all the nice things that were said about him, and not the other comments that must have been made.There was a great deal written about his work for the disabled, and this seems to have been included a great length to compensate for his not so good actions
There is honesty at the end by the author in summing up his characters which is welcome
Overall a good read on two icons of the 60's, and how there lives progressed. Well worth reading as a social history of the latter parts of the 20th century.