PETER TOWNSEND - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 08/06/1976 - HFSID 24442

PETER TOWNSEND. ALS: "Peter Townsend." 1½p, 6x11, front and verso. La Mare aux Oiseaux, 78116 St. Léger-en-Yvelines, France, 1976 August 6. On French Aerogramme that has French stamp affixed. Addressed by Townsend to: "[M]R Eric S. Engstrom, 916 Junipero Avenue, Long Beach, California 90804 U.S.A., Estats Unis." On flap, Townsend has printed his last name and written his return address: "Townsend/98116 St. Léger-en-Yvelines/France." Begins: "Dear Mr Engstrom". In full: "Forgive me for taking so long to reply - I am writing a new book under considerable pressure & have no time for my personal corrrespondence. Many thanks for your letter of the 10 May. The coins all arrived safely and my young son locked them away in his personal safe. I am very touched indeed by your kind thought in sending me these precious souvenirs and I shall, along with my children, cherish them. Congratulations on assembling so many Britons (mostly ancient, I see, but we are a die-hard race!) I do hope that one day I may, with my wife and children, visit the Queen Mary. They all made their first (and so far only) sea-voyage to the U.S., in 1965, in the Queen Elizabeth. With my best wishes Yours sincerely." On flap on verso, handwritten postscript initialed: "P.T." In full: "P.S. Do you know the song, a contemporary hit by the popular French singer, Michel Sardou [Townsend has printed "SARDOU" beneath written name], about 'La Vieille dame anglaise (Queen Mary) and the 'France' - which deplores (quite unreasonably considering the Queen Mary's last, comfortable berth) the fate of the Q.M. & of the France (whose fate is far worse, rotting as she is in foggy Le Havre)." Although Townsend wrote a number of books, including Duel of Eagles and The Odds Against Us, the book that Townsend mentions in this letter is probably his autobiography, Time and Chance, which was published in 1978. Peter Woolridge Townsend (1914-1995) commanded a squadron of Royal Air Force Hurricane fighters during the Battle of Britain, and he is one of the recognized heroes of that epic event. The Group Captain is better known, however, for his scandalous affair with Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Margaret (1931-2002) was barely 20 when she fell for the dashing Townsend, a father of two sons (Giles, born in 1942, and Hugo, born in 1945), who had recently divorced his wife, (Cecil) Rosemary Pawle (1921-2004), on grounds of adultery. In 1955, the Queen forbade her sister to marry Townsend, threatening to strip her of her royal title and income. Townsend was sent off as Air Attache to Belgium, where he soon married Marie-Luce Jamagne, a tobacco heiress who looked much like Margaret. Margaret rebounded into her own unhappy marriage to Anthony Armstrong Jones (later Lord Snowdon), a union ended by divorce in 1978. Townsend, who lived in France following his retirement from the RAF, and Princess Margaret remained friends until his death. Lightly creased with folds, light diagonal crease at the "d" of Townsend and the upper loop of the "P" in the initials. Minor show through of writing. Fine condition.