Lord Snowdon’s former mistress and their now teenage lovechild join the Queen and the Duke of Cambridge at a thanksgiving service in memory of the late photographer

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Lord Snowdon's former lover and their child joined the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at a thanksgiving service held in honour of the late celebrity photographer today. 

The journalist Melanie Cable-Alexander and her son Jasper attended the service at St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, which was held to celebrate the life and work of Lord Snowdon, who died peacefully at home in January at 86.

The man born Antony Armstrong-Jones was remembered today by all five of his children, including David Armstrong-Jones and Lady Sarah Chatto, his son and daughter with Princess Margaret, to whom he was married for 18 years.  

Also there were Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal, Lord Snowdon's daughter from his second marriage to TV producer Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, and Polly Fry, the daughter it emerged he'd fathered before his wedding to the Queen's sister in 1960.

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The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh join mourners including Lord Snowdon's children David Armstrong-Jones (second left) and Lady Sarah Chatto (far right) at Westminster Abbey

Lord Snowdon's former lover Melanie Cable-Alexander, pictured with their love child Jasper, joined royals at the service at Westminster Abbey this morning

Her Majesty greets the Earl of Snowdon, far left, and his daughter Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, following the service in central London this morning

The Queen looked sombre as she left the abbey following the service just before midday, wearing an old purple coat dress with a matching hat adorned with flowers

Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret in New York in 1965 - they were married for 18 years 

The Duke of Cambridge joined his grandparents at today's service.  

Wearing a vibrant purple coat with black velvet trim, the Queen managed a smile as she left the church following the service just before midday, before stopping to greet Lord Snowdon's granddaughter, Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 14. 

According to the monarchy's website there are 'no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting The Queen' - but being the monarch's great-niece affords Lady Margarita a less formal approach to greeting the monarch.

Her Majesty, who will turn 91 later this month, has previously worn the purple coat at a service to celebrate 60 years of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in November 2016.

More than 600 people attended today's service which was led by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster on Friday morning.

Early arrivals included The Queen's nephew Viscount David Linley, playwright Tom Stoppard, Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman and presenter Stephen Fry.

Sir Peter Blake and Lord George Carey the former Archbishop of Canterbury were also in attendance.

The Eton-educated photographer took portraits of some of the most famous faces of the 20th century, from Diana, Princess of Wales to Jack Nicholson and Elizabeth Taylor, in a career that lasted more than six decades. 

Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal, Lord Snowdon's daughter with his second wife, and her husband Rodolphe von Hofmannsthal, arrive for the service of thanksgiving in London today

David Armstrong-Jones and Lady Sarah Chatto leave Westminser Abbey following the Service of Thanksgiving for the life and work of their father, Lord Snowdon, who died on January 13

The Duke of Cambridge was seen chatting to the new Earl of Snowdon's wife Serena following the service. More than 600 people attended the service led by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall

 William looked to be in good spirits as he spoke to Serena outside the abbey this morning, however his wife the Duchess of Cambridge was nowhere to be seen

A man who 'never quite played by the rules': The colourful love life of Lord Snowdon

Lord Snowdon made his name thanks to his intimate portraits of the beautiful, the rich and the royal.

But his colourful love life garnered even more attention than his photographs. 

As well as David Armstrong-Jones and Lady Sarah Chatto, his children from his 18-year marriage to Princess Margaret, the service was attended by two daughters and a son from other relationships - Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal, Jasper Cable-Alexander and Polly Fry.

Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon) with the Royal Family on Buckingham Palace's balcony following their wedding at Westminster Abbey

Polly Fry is the daughter Lord Snowdon fathered shortly before his 18 year marriage to Princess Margaret. 

Polly was raised as the daughter of inventor Jeremy Fry and his first wife, Camilla, but it emerged in 2004 that a DNA test had proved the photographer was her father.

Lord Snowdon's welcomed a son and a daughter during his marriage to the Queen's sister, David, the 2nd Earl of Snowdon, and Sarah. 

Lord Snowdon is said to have had a torrid affair with the debutante and model Lady Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs

Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal is his daughter with his second wife, the TV producer Lucy Lindsay-Hogg. 

Jasper Cable-Alexander is the celebrity photographer's fifth child, the product of his year-long affair with the journalist Melanie Cable-Alexander. 

All five were in the congregation to hear glowing tributes to their father at today's service. 

Lord Snowdon with his second wife, TV producer Lucy Lindsay-Hogg. The couple divorced in 2000

The opera director Patrick Kinmonth described him as a man who 'never quite played by the rules', but who was a 'delightful friend and kindred spirit'.  

Actor and writer Stephen Fry also paid tribute to Lord Snowdon, saying he was a 'very gentle and tender man, he was obstinate as well which made him the great photographer he was'. 

Anne De Courcy's explosive biography of the photographer exposed details of Snowdon's wild affairs during his marriage to Princess Margaret - including a dalliance with debutante Lady Jacqueline Rufus Isaacs, the daughter of the Marquess of Reading. 

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During the service today, Paralympic gold medal winner Baroness Grey-Thompson - a trustee of the disability charity Snowdon Trust - paid tribute to Lord Snowdon's work campaigning for disabled people.

She said Lord Snowdon, whose leg was damaged by polio in his childhood, had helped 'many, many thousands' of disabled people through his work and 'highlighted the issues that affected people like me'.

Baroness Grey-Thompson recalled hearing his name for the first time, and said when she asked her father who he was, he told her: 'This might be the year that things change for disabled people.'

'Many people thought that people like me didn't need an education but here was someone with immense wit, wisdom and charm who talked about education ... someone with a voice and a platform.'

David Armstrong-Jones, the new Earl of Snowdon - also known as David Linley - greets a guest at the service of thanksgiving for this father this morning

She added: 'Thanks to the work of Lord Snowdon I now see thousands and thousands of people just like me.' 

Patrick Kinmonth, an opera director, designer and writer, also read a tribute to Lord Snowdon during the service.

He said he was a man who 'never quite played by the rules', but who was a 'delightful friend and kindred spirit'.

Mr Kinmonth said the pair would 'contemplate his latest scrape' over a glass of wine, and despite his 'sometimes maddening personal twists and turns ... in the end, those of us under his spell simply soldiered on and forgave him - for he gave us so very much in return'.

'Tony was not a man of words but of pictures and it's not so much his voice that we will miss but his eye ... he taught us to see the world as he wanted it - and it's a better world, a world of compassion.' 

Actor and presenter Stephen Fry arrives for the service of thanksgiving in honour of British photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey this morning

The playwright Alan Bennett was photographed arriving at Westminster Abbey 

The Director-General of the BBC, Tony Hall, attended today's service in London

Despite Lord Snowdon's work, it is his marriage to the Queen's sister Princess Margaret in 1960, a union that ended in divorce 18 years later, for which he is remembered.

The couple had two children: David, now the second Earl of Snowdon, and Lady Sarah Chatto before they divorced in 1978.

That year he married Lucy Lindsay-Hogg but – after having a daughter – she left him weeks before Country Life journalist Melanie Cable-Alexander bore him a son, and they divorced in September 2000.  

Lord Snowdon began his career in 1952 as a society photographer for Tatler magazine and his skill at taking portraits saw him commissioned to capture the official images of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for their 1957 tour of Canada.

Lord Snowdon married the Queen's sister Princess Margaret in 1960. Westminster Abbey this morning tweeted a link to the order of service from the couple's nuptials

He met Margaret through his work and their marriage in 1960 heralded the start of a decade that would be dubbed the swinging 60s and sweep away stuffy social conventions. 

It is said Lord Snowdon remained close to the monarchy, and is the only photographer to have had sittings with the Queen throughout her long reign. 

He was a keen designer, creating the plans for London Zoo's aviary, built in 1965 and now grade II listed, and was responsible for the design of the Prince of Wales' 1969 investiture ceremony at Caernarfon Castle.

He also championed the cause of disabled people, creating a mobilised platform to give them greater mobility and sitting on a number of bodies and organisations. 

Lord Snowdon was frail in his later years, using a wheelchair or sticks because of a recurrence of his childhood polio and he retired from the House of Lords in March 2016.