For the 20th anniversary of her sister's death, Queen Elizabeth granted Princess Margaret's lover Roderic "Roddy" Llewellyn permission to visit her burial site and pay his respects.
On Wednesday, Llewellyn made the trip to see his late love's grave at the King George VI Memorial Chapel within St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, according to the Daily Mail. Margaret's former lover now lives in the South of France, but was in London this week to attend the funeral of John Rendall, the former owner of viral sensation Christian the Lion. Llewellyn reportedly said, “After two years of having absolutely nothing in my diary, I had two crucial dates — to go to St. George's and to be at John's funeral.”
In 2002, Margaret's ashes were entombed in the King George VI Memorial Chapel alongside those of her father, King George VI who died in 1952, and those of the Queen Mother, who passed away a few months after her death. The Chapel is also where Prince Philip is expected to be buried, as well as the Queen when her time comes.
Margaret and Llewellyn first began their affair during the royal's marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. He was a gardener and aspiring pop star at the time, as well as 17 years younger than the princess. Armstrong-Jones was also carrying on his own affair during the marriage with Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, a divorced television researcher whom he would go on to marry. The royal family was finally forced to address Margaret and Snowdon's separation after a photo of her and Llewellyn sharing a private moment was leaked to the News of the World. Their divorce, which was finalized in 1978, marked the first official divorce in a reigning British monarch's immediate family since King Henry VIII's annulment. Margaret and Llewellyn's relationship, however, did prove to have some longevity, going on for eight more years after her separation from her husband.
While it may have caused quite a scandal at the time, Queen Elizabeth was apparently always in support of this relationship that made her sister so ecstatic. Lady Anne Glenconner, one of the Queen's maids during her coronation, explained in the documentary Elizabeth: Our Queen, “It was difficult for the Queen, and I felt rather guilty always — having introduced Roddy to Princess Margaret. But after Princess Margaret's funeral, the Queen, she said, ‘I'd just like to say, Anne, it was rather difficult at moments, but I thank you so much introducing Princess Margaret to Roddy ‘cause he made her really happy.’”
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