The truth about Princess Margaret’s affair with toyboy society gardener Roddy Llewellyn

She was a rich and glamorous princess, he was a society gardener. Their eight-year affair caused a global scandal. Warning: Spoiler Alert

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None of Princess Margaret’s romantic choices were conventional, but perhaps the most scandalous of all was one of her most fulfilling and joyful.

Roddy Llewellyn was single, a society gardener and 15 years her junior when they met in Edinburgh. Yet despite their differences, each would change the course of the other’s life.

In 1973, her close friends Lord and Lady Glenconner invited her for a weekend at their Scottish castle. When one guest pulled out the couple struggled to find a replacement before someone suggested Roddy Llewellyn, the son of Olympic gold medal-winning show jumper Sir Harry Llewellyn. They could not be more different – at the time, she had just turned 43 and was a mother of two while he was only 25 years old.

Lord Glenconner drove to Edinburgh to pick up his two guests, taking them out to lunch. By the time the party arrived later in the afternoon at his country pile, the unlikely duo were already holding hands in the back seat of his car.

Roddy Llewellyn and Princess Margaret not long after they met. Picture: Supplied

The die was cast and during the next 48 hours it was blindingly clear the duo were falling in love with one another.

“I discovered a warm and witty woman, possessing a strong sense of duty and dedication to her country’s interests, who has honoured me with her friendship since that first house party that was so filled with fun and laughter,” Roddy later revealed. “We found we were all fond of charades and singsongs. I have even sung to her accompaniment on the piano. To raise a laugh, HRH has donned a wig to sing a Sophie Tucker red hot momma number.”

Much of their romance played out far away from England, with Roddy joining her for holidays at her Mustique villa. There, they enjoyed the sort of hedonistic, relaxed lifestyle for which Margaret has become famous.

Back in the UK, Roddy had moved into a commune of sorts near Oxford, where Margaret, a woman who rarely even closed her own car door, would visit him.

Still, the vast disparity in their positions started to affect Roddy. In 1974 he fled London, ending up in Turkey as he struggled under the weight of his relationship with the Princess, reportedly telling someone he met he “had been having an affair with a married woman and that it had all got too much for him and the sex had become a problem”.

The unlikely pairing was one that made Margaret ‘truly happy’. Picture: Supplied

When he returned to London, they resumed their romance but this incident would set the scene for ongoing turbulence. In 1974, Roddy was suffering with his mental health, spending three weeks in the Charing Cross Hospital before returning home to his family’s Welsh property to recuperate.

By 1976, rumours that Margaret was involved with a much younger man had spread. While Colin Tennant assiduously denied media access to Mustique, one intrepid journalist managed to slip through the net, checking into a hotel on the island with his wife, posing as tourists.

While the Princess and her friends rarely strayed from her luxurious home, they occasionally ventured to the Cotton House Hotel’s bar for a drink and it was here the press man hit pay dirt, secretly snapping Roddy, the Princess, Lady Anne Glenconner and her brother. Days later the pictures, that had cropped out Lady Anne and her brother, hit newspapers around the world.

The picture of Margaret and Roddy in Mustique that broke the news of their affair. Picture: Supplied

It was a huge scandal and Margaret duly returned to England. Despite her husband Antony Armstrong Jones’s own infidelity, he largely played the injured party and promptly moved out of their vast Kensington Palace apartment, with the couple’s separation being officially announced. (Later that year, Margaret and Tony would officially divorce, the first senior member of the royal family to dissolve her marriage in centuries.)

Roddy was brutally thrust into the spotlight and was forced to release a public statement that said: “I much regret any embarrassment caused to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family, for whom I wish to express the greatest respect, admiration and loyalty.”

While Roddy had built up a business as a society landscaper, and was regularly referred to in the press with some disdain as a ‘gardener’, his professional life was difficult. In 1978, he was persuaded to launch a music career, releasing his one and only album, the eponymously titled Roddy. It was a dismal failure.

Despite their ‘outing’ as a couple, Roddy and Margaret would continue their romance for a further five years, only ending in 1981 after he fell in love with Tatiana Soskin.

Still, Roddy and Margaret parted on good terms with the duo remaining friends. The Princess is said to have even given Roddy and Tatiana’s wedding her approval.

Interestingly, one person who was glad that Roddy had entered Margaret’s life was the Queen. In a documentary, Lady Anne Glenconner, whose fateful Scottish weekend away lit the spark, has said: “It was difficult for the Queen and I felt rather guilty always having introduced Roddy to Princess Margaret.

“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 because he made her really happy’.’

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s biggest media titles.