Lord Snowdon

by Helen Cathcart

An engrossing biography of Antony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon.Ideal for fans of the hit Netflix series The Crown!Antony Armstrong-Jones, photographer, designer and film-maker, gained worldwide attention when he married Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister, Princess Margaret in 1960 – the first non-aristocrat to marry into the Royal Family for 400 years.How did a ‘commoner’ come to marry a princess, a woman whom he had long admired from afar?In fact, ‘Tony’ descended from Welsh gentry, the son of a barrister and a society hostess. Educated at Eton College and Cambridge University – where he coxed the Light Blues to victory in the 1950 Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race – his family shared a long-established link with the Mountbatten arm of the Royal Family.In this engaging biography Helen Cathcart traces the first four decades of Lord Snowdon’s life, from the child of divorce and schoolboy victim of polio to successful photographer of the rich and famous and dutiful member of the Royal Family. Cathcart draws on close personal family sources to reveal the man behind the camera, the Old Etonian whose sense of timing and inquisitive interest in people made him one of the most original of British photographers. Set against a background of Irish castles, Thames-side hideaways and royal palaces, Cathcart also tells the definitive story of Lord Snowdon’s romance with Princess Margaret and their early married life together as one of Britain’s most glamorous couples.Lord Snowdon is packed with intensely revealing detail sure to appeal to all Royal Family enthusiasts.Praise for Helen ‘An expert on royalty’ – The Guardian‘Wide acclaim as a royal biographer … objective, uninhibited and penetrating’ – Sunday Express‘Helen Cathcart writes about royalty as if she were one of them’ – Daily Mail‘The doyenne of royal biographers’ – Daily Telegraph

Genres: Biography

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Helen Cathcart was a prolific writer about the Royal Family, who enjoyed enormous success with her books in the 1960s and 1970s. These emerged with regularity, sold well and were largely enjoyed (if not always at Buckingham Palace). One mystery surrounded the author – she was never seen. Occasionally journalists visited her agent, Harold Albert at his cottage near Liphook, and suspected that Helen Cathcart did not exist. Invariably they left less convinced. Only when Harold Albert died was it revealed – in an obituary written by Hugo Vickers – that Harold Albert and Helen Cathcart were one and the same.

Hugo Vickers explains that the story of Harold Albert himself was considerably more interesting than anything that Helen Cathcart herself wrote. He had a grim early life, his father deserting his mother when he was a child, he was entirely self-educated and became in time a prolific and successful journalist, personally interviewing both Hitler and Mussolini before the war. He wrote a successful novel, Café People. In the war he was imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs as a conscientious objector and then he created Helen Cathcart. In his later life he ghosted the biography of Prince Philip written by Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia and he wrote the books.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed look at the life of Lord Snowdon, and many of his interesting ancestors. I read a book on Princess Margaret, and this is a good way to learn more about her eventual photographer husband. It looks like a lot of research went into this background on Snowdon. It tells a lot of what he lived through growing up, from his parents divorcing and remarrying others, to his bout of Polio I found surprising. A good biography, very forthcoming about his career as well. Looking for more information on the author, I found a SunSentinel article dated November 10, 1997 that says Mrs. Helen Cathcart never existed and tells about Harold Albert who wrote all of the books under that name. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Helen Cathcart, and the publisher.

[Clay H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read but had too much of his family background. Could’ve shed some of it and focused more on Tony’s working life.

[Lucy-Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all books by Helen Cathcart, the writing style is clear and accessible and it has been very well researched
It gives an interesting insight into the background, early life and early years of marriage of a lesser known member of the Royal Family, however the book was originally published in 1968 and has not been updated for its re-release so the book doesn’t cover the end of his marriage & subsequent life so I can’t really recommend it because of that.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the author & publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

#LordSnowdon #NetGalley

[Alexis Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whitewashed and bland

Many well known facets of the individuals involved are conveniently ignored, to the overall detriment of the story. As a result there is no clear picture of anyone. The writing verges on being flowery, all in all a breathless puff piece with no puffs.