He was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, made exquisite furniture for Russian oligarchs (at a price!) and is now advising King Charles III on style. Which key member of the Royal Family celebrates his 62nd birthday today?
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He once described a perfect Sunday as a cooked breakfast followed by a country walk with the dogs.
He comes from a famously outdoorsy family, so that makes perfect sense.
But there’s more to the 2nd Earl of Snowdon than fry-ups and old Land Rovers.
David Armstrong-Jones pictured at a gathering of Arab designers at the The Connaught Hotel this year
David and his mother, Princess Margaret, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, after the Christmas Day Church service in 1983
Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon pictured with their children David and Sarah in 1969
David Armstrong Jones, as he was born, is the son and eldest child of the glamorous but turbulent marriage between Princess Margaret and society photographer David, the 1st Earl.
Known for most of his life as Viscount Linley, he became a cabinet maker and designer.
A favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II, he today advises his cousin, King Charles III and is thought to be behind the King’s sharp appearance in recent months.
‘Insiders credit David Armstrong-Jones with the increasingly contemporary wardrobe – and hip accessories – sported by Charles,’ wrote Kate Mansey in The Mail on Sunday.
David, 62, was fifth in line to the throne when he was born, on November 3, 1961. Today, he is 24th in line.
The young royal spent much of his early life at Buckingham Palace, where he was close to his younger sister Lady Sarah Chatto.
They became close to their cousins in Royal Family and spent time together both at home and on holiday.
He became the 2nd Earl of Snowdon on the death of his father in 2017.
READ MORE: TV star Susannah Constantine says a photoshoot with Princess Margaret’s ex-husband the 1st Earl of Snowdon left her in agony
David attended a number of schools, including Gibbs Pre-Preparatory School in Kensington and Bedales School, in Petersfield among others.
He enrolled at the School for Craftsmen in Wood at Parnham House in Beaminster, Dorset, in the 1980s before setting up his own furniture design company selling to wealthy clients including, at one point, Russian oligarchs.
He also worked at auction house Christie’s.
In 1993 David married Serena Stanhope at St Margaret’s, Westminster.
The daughter of landowner the Earl of Harrington and a distant cousin of Princess Diana, they met when David was commissioned to design some furniture by Serena’s father some years before.
Among the 650 guests were David’s parents, the Queen, and Princess Diana among others.
The new Viscountess was praised for her Bruce Robbins gown, which was noted for its resemblance to Princess Margaret’s 1960 Norman Hartnell wedding dress.
The Queen Mother celebrating her 70th birthday with three of her grandchildren, (fPrince Edward, Lady Sarah and David in 1970
David with his then girlfriend, fashion journalist Susannah Constantine at the Royal Opera House, London, in April 1985
Viscount Linley and his bride Serena Stanhope walk through a flowered arch following their wedding at St Margaret’s, Westminster in 1993
David and Serena have two children: Charles Armstrong-Jones, 24, Viscount Linley, and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 21
They have two children: Charles Armstrong-Jones, 24, Viscount Linley and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 21.
David and Serena announced that they would be getting divorced in 2020 with a spokesman saying the pair had ‘amicably agreed that their marriage has come to an end’.
The 2nd Earl’s upmarket furniture proved popular with the international rich and was at one point stocked by Harrods. Elton John and Mick Jagger are said to have been fans.
David is believed to have inherited a share of his mother’s estimated £20million fortune along with his sister, Sarah, in 2002.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in 2011, he described his perfect Sunday, saying: ‘We have a cooked breakfast and then, if we’re in Gloucestershire, we’ll clamber into the back of an old Land Rover with the dogs and go for another walk.’
Having spent much of his younger years in Buckingham Palace, David shared a bond with his aunt, Queen Elizabeth.
The Earl and Queen were often seen joking with each other at gatherings and events.
The Earl of Snowdon with his son during the National Service of Thanksgiving, St Paul’s Cathedral in June 2022
The late Queen Elizabeth II and the Earl of Snowdon in the Royal procession at Ascot in 2018
Queen Elizabeth II pictured leaving Liverpool Street Station in London for Sandringham with her son Prince Edward (centre), niece Sarah and nephew David in December 1968
Lady Margarita, Charles Armstrong-Jones, Lady Sarah Chatto and David Armstrong-Jones, at Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6
David was in the funeral processions for both Prince Philip and the Queen, along with senior members of the Royal Family.
His daughter Margarita was a bridesmaid at the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine. He was among the guests at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in 2018.
Margarita also sat alongside her brother, Charles, Viscount Linley, and her father, David at King Charles’ Coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
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